Althea Schaf

Althea Schaf, 76, of Aurora, formerly of the Worms area, died Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009, at Memorial Community Care in Aurora. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Libory’s Catholic Church in St. Libory. The Rev. Larry Coulter will officiate. Burial will be in the parish cemetery. A vigil service will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday at the church. Peters Funeral Home of St. Paul is in charge of arrangements. Mrs. Schaf was born on June 25, 1932, at Berkeley, Calif. the daughter of Cecil and Elizabeth (Covell) Blunn. She is survived by her husband, Joseph H. Schaf of Aurora; four daughters and three sons-in-law, Althea and Larry Pellack of Boone, Iowa, Bibiana and Bruce Justason of Nashua, NH, Christine and David Stoy of Waukegan, IL and Elizabeth Kidwell of Chicago, IL; one brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Sue Blunn of Missoula, MT; and two sisters, Elizabeth Blaylock of Tucson, AZ and Felicity Hollister of Texas. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. At the age of 2, Althea moved with her family to New Mexico and at age 14 they moved to Lincoln, where she graduated from Lincoln Northeast High School. She then attended and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she received her degree in mathematics. Upon graduation she moved to Wichita, Kansas where she worked for Boeing in their engineering department. She was united in marriage to Joseph H. Schaf on July 14, 1956, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Sidney. During their working years the couple lived in Lincoln, Sidney, Salt Lake City, UT, Fremont, CA, Nashua, NH, Chicago, IL, and St. Paul, MN. Althea was a “stay at home” mom, raising her four daughters and being involved with them as a Brownie and Girl Scout leader. In 1987, the couple moved to a farm near Worms, where they lived until 2004. After leaving the farm they lived in several communities, most recently Aurora. She was a member of St. Libory’s Catholic Church and its Council of Catholic Women, the Cheerie Center Club and Newcomers Clubs in various cities. Althea loved flower gardening and house plants. She was preceded in death by her parents. Memorials are suggested to the family’s choice.