Sharon L. Stavnheim

1939 - 2016

Sharon Louise Stavnheim

Born: November 25, 1939; in DeKalb, IL

Died: June 7, 2016; in Lafayette, IN

Sharon Louise Stavnheim passed away on June 7, 2016, at Signature Healthcare in Lafayette, Indiana.

She was born in DeKalb, Illinois on November 25, 1939. She was the oldest daughter of Kenneth and Arlene Keast, and grew up on a farm near Malta, Illinois. On August 6, 1960, she was married to Arlan Stavnheim at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois.

She was preceded in death by her parents; and her granddaughter, Megan Elizabeth Crawford.

Surviving are her husband, Arlan; children, Shelley of Noblesville IN; Jonathan (Natalie) of Columbus, IN and Kristen (John) Crawford of Carmel, IN; brothers, Roger Keast (Eloise) of Malta, IL and Gary Keast (Lana) of Riverview, FL. Surviving also are her grandsons, Kyle, Drew, Evan, Jack, John, William, Michael and Eric.

She was baptized at First Lutheran Church in DeKalb, IL and was confirmed at Calvary Lutheran Church. She attended country school and graduated from Malta High School in 1957. She attended Waldorf College (1957-58) and Luther College (1958-59), both in Iowa.

After that, she worked for Northern Illinois University in the sports information department. After moving to Ames, Iowa she worked for Hach Chemical Company for one year (1960-61). Upon her husband's graduation from Iowa State in 1961, they both moved to Cleveland, Ohio where she worked for the Sohio Oil Company. In February 1963 she had her first child, a daughter, in Toledo, Ohio. In 1963 she moved with her husband to Indianapolis, Indiana, and gave birth to her second child, a son. In 1968 she moved to Lafayette with her husband and gave birth to her third child, a daughter.

Sharon worked as a secretary at Our Saviour Lutheran Church and retired from J.C.Penney in 2000.

She was active at the St. John's Food Pantry, Lafayette Urban Ministry, 4-H, Lafayette Extension Homemakers, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Outreach Committee and the Quilters group.

Sharon traveled extensively with her husband visiting Norway eight times, including a trip to her ancestors farm in Telemark, Norway.

Services will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1005 N. 21st St., Lafayette, IN on June 17th at 11:00 a.m., with a brief visitation beginning at 10:30 a.m. Visitation will be at the Fisher Funeral Chapel in Lafayette, IN, 914 Columbia Street, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on June 16th. She will be laid to rest in Meadow View Cemetery in Lafayette.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Arlan and Sharon Stavnheim Endowment at the Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette, 300 Main Street, Ste. 100, Lafayette IN 47901. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home and the church