Roberta Lael (Jeffries) Littlefield

roberta-littlefield

After 89 years, Roberta Lael (Jeffries) Littlefield’s journey in this life is complete. The Lord graciously and peacefully called her home in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 10, 2016, following a short battle with cancer.

Lael was born December 9, 1926, to Marye Velma [Rumohr] and Edgar Dean Jeffries in Hart Township, Oceana County, Michigan, the fourth of eight children. She moved in August of 1929 with her parents and siblings to northern Osceola County, Michigan, where her father had accepted the pastorate of a church in the village of Dighton. Her elementary school days were all spent in Blanchard, Michigan, a small village in southwest Isabella County where the family had moved in August of 1932. In 1941, the family moved to Dayton Township of Newaygo County where Lael graduated as salutatorian of Fremont High School Class of 1945. On July 26, 1947, she was united in marriage to William Rockey Littlefield (12/3/1913 – 10/15/2001) with her father officiating the ceremony.

The couple settled in Marion, Indiana, and raised four children. As a wife and homemaker, Lael Littlefield returned to Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University) and received her BS in Secondary Education with an English/Spanish major in 1962. In 1964, she received her MA in Spanish from Ball State University. A teacher of Spanish for 27 years in the Marion, Indiana Community Schools, she also was chairperson of the Foreign Language Department for over 20 years. In 1989, she was awarded the Secondary School Teacher of the Year by the Indiana State Teachers of Foreign Languages. She was also made a member of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Honor Society. Lael traveled extensively in Spain, Mexico, and Puerto Rico enriching her knowledge of the language and the Spanish-speaking people.

Lael enjoyed being very active in the community. She maintained several memberships and served in various offices and capacities with Lyric Club, Community Concert Series, Delta Kappa Gamma Society, American Association of University Women, Retired Teachers Association, Marion/Grant County Senior Center’s Best Years Singers, Tuesday Morning Interdenominational Women’s Bible Study, and two different chapters of the Red Hat Society.

She was a charter member of Westminster Presbyterian Church and served as a Choir Director for many years. Her love for her Saviour and of music and singing led her to direct choirs at Elwood Presbyterian Church and Tipton Presbyterian Church. As recently as February of 2016, she was directing the choir at Temple Congregational United Church of Christ.

Christmas was an especially important time for Lael. She wrote and conducted many Advent services and for 61 years she composed an original poem for her Christmas card in addition to making candy and baking breads to distribute as gifts.

After retirement in 1989, Lael continued to serve others by teaching piano and Spanish language lessons in her home. She also organized annual treks to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. Even toward the end of her life, Lael continued the pursuits she loved and recently completed editing and writing a series of seven Easy English/Spanish Readers with her niece, Lola Kenyon.

Lael loved her family dearly and she is survived by a daughter: Teresa Jean Garrison of Riverside, Missouri, and three sons: Thomas Walter of South Paris, Maine; John Cameron of Saint Cloud, Minnesota; and Frank Jeffries (Barbara) of Buffalo Grove, Illinois. She is also survived by five grandsons: Zachary of Melbourne, Australia; Brendan of Brooklyn, New York; Ryan of Jersey City, New Jersey; Nathan of Chicago, Illinois; and Joshua of Palatine, Illinois.

Also surviving is a brother, John Robert (Jillene) Jeffries of Mears, Michigan, a sister-in-law, Marilyn (Harry) Heersema of Mears, Michigan, and several nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, as well as countless dear friends.

Visitation will be held on Friday, September 16, 2016, from 4-8 p.m. at Needham-Storey-Wampner Funeral Service, North Chapel, 1341 N. Baldwin Ave., Marion, IN. Services will be held at the Temple Congregational United Church of Christ, 1006 N. Western Ave., Marion, Indiana, on Saturday, September 17, 2016, at 1 p.m. Burial will be in Grant Memorial Park.

Memorial contributions may be made to Family Hospice, 705 S. Baldwin Ave., Marion, IN 46953 or Temple Congregational United Church of Christ.

Online condolences may be made at www.nswcares.com.

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