Surrounded by her loving family, Lucille Schiffer passed peacefully in her home on June 27, just shy of her 100th birthday.  Lucille’s was a life well-lived - as a wife, mother, friend, teacher, traveler, volunteer, master quilter, and more.  

Lucille was born in Otsego, Michigan, on September 2, 1926, to Mildred and Carl Hatfield.  The family soon moved to the Hatfield Registered Jerseys Farm in Remus, Michigan. Lucille was on her high school basketball team and also participated in 4-H, earning certificates in gardening and dairy, and certificates plus special recognition for dressmaking and scholarship money for canning.  She graduated from Michigan State College in 1947 with an BS degree in Occupational Education.  In 1948, Lucille married Pat Schiffer, her high school sweetheart.  They lived in Remus where Lucille began her teaching career.  

In 1952, when Pat became a flight instructor at an Air Force Contract School in North Carolina, the family, which now included daughters Sandra (Miller) and Nancy, moved to Grifton, N.C.  Sons Albert and Michael were born there.  The family moved to Plainwell, Michigan in 1957, where Lucille taught both Junior and then High School Home Economics, and earned her MA degree.  She was a devoted and well-liked teacher, who continued to develop new and relevant courses, including a very popular and successful occupational foods program.  In 1984, she was chosen to receive a Michigan Home Economics teacher of the year award.  

In 1986, Lucille and Pat, then Chief Flight Instructor and Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University’s College of Aviation, both retired to enjoy a life of travel and grandchildren.  When Pat died in 1993, Lucille continued her travel adventures with family and friends. Her journeys crisscrossed the entire U.S., from Newfoundland and Labrador to California and from Seattle to the Florida Keys, plus trips to Alaska, Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Paris.  The years did not stop her - at age 99, she flew to a family event in Colorado.

After 55 years in Plainwell, Lucille moved to Ovid, Michigan, to live near her sons and their families in an apartment designed by her and built onto son Michael’s home.  In both Plainwell and Ovid, Lucille was dedicated to giving back and sharing her talents.  She brought homemade pies to the Plainwell Pilot’s Club, sewed numerous quilts for the Holy Family’s Quilters group in Ovid, made her daughter’s wedding dress and her grand-daughter’s prom dress, and provided sympathy and support for family and friends in need. Lucille was a devoted volunteer at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo for 29 years and provided 14 years of essential administrative support as the Executive Secretary of the Michigan Agricultural Aviation Association – for which she received the Larsen-Miller Community Service Award at its national convention - at the age of 84!

Lucille encouraged and supported each of her four children to pursue their dreams – and then spent much time bragging about them.  She is survived by her children:  Sandy Miller (Dan), Nancy (Goldwin Smith), Albert (Kat) and Michael (Kathryn), 7 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.  We love her dearly; she will be missed.

Burial Services will be held at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Remus, Michigan, at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 24.   A Memorial Mass will be held on Sunday, July 26 at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church in Ovid, Michigan.