Elvire Liefveld

LIEFVELD-Elvire Liefveld, December 4, 1916 - September 15, 2010 Long time Whittier resident Elvire (Oma) Liefveld, age 93, died peacefully at her home on Wednesday, September 15, 2010. Memorial services will be held at 3:00pm. on Saturday, September 18, 2010, in the Rose Hills Memorial Chapel, Whittier Ca. A celebration of her glorious and adventurous life will follow at her Whittier home after the memorial ceremony. Elvire was married to Ernest Liefveld for 40 years, until he passed away in the same home in 1988. She had one previous marriage before that. She is survived by six children, James Richter (72), Johan Richter (71), Elizabeth (Richter) Uribe (69), Sylvia (Richter) Lester (68), Robert Liefveld (60), and Theodore Liefveld (49). She has 25 grand children, 36 great grand children, numerous great-great grand children and many, many friends and acquaintances. She has resided in her Whittier home since 1958. As a young woman, Elvire's life was right out of a bestselling romantic adventure novel... one that took her from the exotic island of Java in Dutch East Indies, to Holland, and finally to America in 1957. She had a college education and was a school teacher in both Indonesia and Holland for over 15 years. This was very rare in those days, especially in the Far East. She survived Japanese prison camp during WWII and the Indonesian revolution for their independence in the early 1950's. Moving to Holland in 1952 was a completely new environment for her. It took some getting used to the cold winters in exchange for the languid, balmy days in the tropics. Immigrating to America in 1957, and after 5 years of US residency, she and her husband gained their citizenship in 1962. They took "Citizenship" classes together on Wednesday evenings for 6 months before they were sworn in as United States citizens. She did not teach school in America, but settled into being a homemaker. She played the piano and taught music out of her home instead. She was involved with the St. Matthias Episcopalian Church of Whittier, donating her time to many charity events. She was the kind of woman who always made do with what she had, instead of wishing for grander things in life. She and her husband helped many other Dutch Indonesian immigrants over the years, many of them staying in her home until they were settled. She was an excellent cook, always serving Dutch Indonesian dishes to her family friends. She used home-grown ingredients from her small garden to flavor and spice her cooking. She was a talented lady who could re-upholster her own furniture and she was an excellent seamstress. She made many clothes for her children, especially Halloween costumes for her grand children. She adored all her children and grand children. She is fondly remembered by all her loving kindness and sweet disposition.