Evelyn Litwiller Good

Evelyn Litwiller Good, 96, died Sept. 2, 2023, in Geneva, Neb. She was born Sept. 5, 1926, on a farm near Hopedale, Ill., the second of nine children of Christian C. Litwiller and Emma Zehr Litwiller. She married Willard Good of Rantoul, Ill., on June 15, 1947. They were married 53 years.

She graduated from Hopedale High School in 1944, attended Goshen College in 1945-46 and graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1982.

With Willard, she served with Mennonite Central Committee from 1947 to 1950 in Puerto Rico, where she assisted in the women’s needlework project that became Selfhelp and now is called Ten Thousand Villages.

Her work experiences included cooking for many years in Rantoul City Schools cafeterias. Later, she worked for the Department of Children and Family Services and at the University of Illinois Admissions Processing Office. In later years, she enjoyed reading, watching Jeopardy!, keeping up with the Illini football and basketball teams and writing notes to her many friends and relatives. Before moving to Nebraska, she was a member of First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana, Ill., for 42 years, where she served in many capacities. It was her joy to continue to attend services there via Zoom until her death.

She is survived by a daughter, Shirley (Donald) Kempf of Shickley, Neb.; sisters LaVerne Petersen, Ruth Mark and Judith Muzzy; seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Willard; daughter Sherrill Berkey; and siblings Delora Birkey, Floyd Litwiller, Carolyn Welch, Beverly Burmeister and Linda Litwiller.

A celebration of her life will be at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 6 at First Mennonite Church, Urbana, Ill. Memorials can be directed to First Mennonite Church.

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