Lila Mae Sheely of Winona Lake, Ind., died at the age of 78 at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 5, 2017, at her residence.
She was born on September 30, 1938, in Greentown, Ohio, to Benjamin Thomas Sheely Jr. and Alma Fern (Stickle) Sheely.
Lila spent her lifetime serving, learning, and teaching. Never wasting a minute, she received her nursing degree in Ohio in 1960. She even spent three years Grace College and Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Ind., finally received her Master’s Degree in 1992 from Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Ind.
She worked as a nurse for 15 years in Arizona and Indiana. Went to France to study French, and studied tropical diseases in Belgium. Lila served as a missionary nurse for 20 years in the Central African Republic. When she returned to the U.S., she taught at Indiana Wesleyan University in the nursing division for seven years until her retirement.
She had been a member of the Grace Brethren Church in Sebring, Fla., and attended Chapel at Grace Village Retirement Community in Winona Lake, Ind.
She will be lovingly remembered by her two sisters: Ann Elaine (husband Robert) Kaufman (Mesa, Ariz.) and Lynette Jean (husband Richard) Dennis (Tempe, Ariz.); and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Melvin Sheely.
No visitation is planned, a service of recognition will be held at the Grace Village Chapel on Sunday, March 19, 2017, officiated by Chaplain Bryan Benjamin. Arrangements are entrusted to Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw, Ind.
Memorial donations in Lila’s memory may be directed to Grace Village Retirement Community, 337 Grace Village Drive, Winona Lake, Ind. 46590 to go towards the Wellness and Fitness Center.