Leola (Smith) SHELLER

SHELLER, SMITH, MILLER, MAYJOFFO, DECKER, FROHLING

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/6/2012 at 18:39:47

December 30, 1918 --- May 24, 2012

Leola Sheller was born near Galt, Iowa on December 30, 1918, the third of four children of Rose and Stuart Smith. She passed away May 24, 2012. She was 93-1/2 years old. As one of four children in a farming family, she learned a solid work ethic from her earliest days. In a difficult era when not everyone finished high school, she excelled and graduated from Belmond High School and was married to Harry Sheller in 1936. In 1952 they relocated to Southern California where Harry worked for Lockheed Aircraft and again in 1965 to Santa Maria. Over the years they were active in the Lutheran Church in Iowa, Glendale, California, and again in Santa Maria at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Leola's life was devoted to her family; she was the constant heartbeat of our home. Her house was always clean, her cookie jar was always full, and you could always find a dose of sympathy and love there. Raising six children she found time to attend the Mothers' Tea, a Boy Scout ceremony or a church dinner. I think she won the Ladies Luncheon prize for the most and newest grandchildren several years running. She was thrifty, and she could stretch a pound of hamburger like the tray of loaves and fishes, but when you needed a little spending money, a dollar for gas or a new dress for a special occasion, out came that mysterious pocketbook of hers. She was a beautiful lady of faith, love, wisdom, and grace.

Over ninety-three years, while she was living her own life story and creating and nourishing her family, she saw amazing events. She was born at the end of WWI, and survived the Great Depression sustained by their family farm. When it snowed she went to a one-room schoolhouse in a horse driven sleigh, but she also watched the first era of vehicles fly down dusty roads at exhilarating speeds of 10 or 15 miles per hour; from the Wright Brothers aircraft in the early 1900's airplanes transitioned to jets, and rockets placed men on the moon. As a young wife and mother she endured the war of her generation, WWII. She lived while presidents from Woodrow Wilson forward took the Oath of Office, and she saw miraculous advances in medicine and science.

Her husband, Harry, preceded her in death, as did her parents, Rose and Stuart Smith, and two of her siblings: her brother, Caryl, and sister, Maxine. Those left to cherish her memory include her children, Jolane (Russell) Miller, Judy (Richard) Mayjoffo, Dennis (Karen) Sheller, Craig (Rhonda) Sheller, Charles (Eva) Sheller, Christy Decker; her sister, Velma Frohling (97) of Belmond, Iowa; 25 grandchildren 19 great-grandchildren, 13 great-great grandchildren, plus numerous nephews, nieces, and friends.

As we pass her into the capable hands of her Maker whom she followed all the days of her life, we congratulate her for a life well lived and for her birth into the heavenly kingdom. May God bless her and all her family and friends who miss her but know that she is in a better place. A Funeral Service will be held at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church at 4380 Orcutt Road, Orcutt, California on Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 1:00 p.m., with a viewing from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Burial will follow the services at the Santa Maria Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Dudley-Hoffman Mortuary, Crematory and Memory Gardens.

Santa Maria Times - California
May 30, 2012