Iris M. Scheide

Iris Scheide passed from this life Tuesday night before last at the age of 98 in Bakersfield, California. Her passing was the end of a long and fruitful life shared with family and friends. The family wishes to honor her in this notice because there will be no formal service, at her request.
She was born in Kansas City, Missouri and adopted as an infant by loving parents Christopher and Laura Morrell. Raised on the plains of southeastern Colorado and the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee and Virginia, she grew up during the Great Depression with her extended family keeping each other alive in the most difficult of conditions at a time of widespread poverty. She made her way through the Depression with the loss of her mother at age 14 and went on to finish school, find work and start a family in the midst of World War II. This experience provided the motivation to see her children succeed and not know the privations she experienced. For that effort and care her children will always be grateful.
Family and friends will remember her as a loving, supportive wife, mother, friend, and member of the community. She moved with her family to Bakersfield in 1967 when her husband Benton became the first library director of the new, yet-to-be-built California State College. As the school was taking shape, she took on the role of helping the new library staff get settled and feel at home. As a member of the Cal State Women's Club, and later as its president, she would help with the many challenges for those Cal State employees new to the community. Often working behind the scenes, she went on to volunteer at Guild House, Friends of the Kern County Library, League of Women Voters and as an election worker for many years. Her frequent donations to many causes led to a profusion of charities seeking her financial support in the mail. At the end of her life, her heart was still with those needing help.
A mother who made the extra effort, a hostess who wanted to give her guests the best she could provide, she was firmly loyal to those she admired and called a friend. Her dedication was there in quiet words, deeds, and gestures. We enjoyed her understated, sometimes pungent wit and the wonderful cinnamon rolls she would get up at 2 a.m. to make for family, friends and community events. Her heavenly angel food cake was not to be missed. Now she is an angel looking out for us. Our hearts will always be with her.
Iris is predeceased by her husband of 47 years, Benton Scheide, and sister, Lolita Parsons. She is survived by her son Bill Scheide in Bakersfield, daughter Maureen (Bill) Duensing in Pekin, Illinois, granddaughter Kim (Mark) Goldman in St. Louis, Missouri, grandson Kevin (Cindy) Miller in Whangerei, New Zealand, two great-granddaughters Caroline and Julia Miller, nephew Dusty (Nancy) Parsons in Kingsport, Tennessee, niece Holly Wilson in Waco, Texas, and cousins Gene (Merrilee) Morrell in Bend, Oregon. She is also survived by numerous cousins of the Palmer and Morrell clan across the country.
Our family thanks the dedicated, skillful and compassionate staff of the Hoffman Hospice and the numerous other medical professionals in the community that helped our mother in her time of need.
A private graveside gathering at Greenlawn Southwest will be held with close friends and family in the near future. If well-wishers want to honor her memory, please make donations in her name to the Bakersfield Homeless Shelter.