Luella Faye Yoder of Chicago, IL went to be with the Lord on Saturday, December 16, 2017, after succumbing to complications from the West Nile Virus.

Luella was born on February 2, 1934, at Albany General Hospital in Oregon to Orval and Lena Smucker. She was the third of seven children. She grew up on a farm outside the small town of Harrisburg, Or.

Luella's mother, Lena, led a progressive and adventurous life before marriage, working in the hops fields before the prohibition and in an apple factory in Washington, owning her own Chevy Coup in the 20s. Luella's father settled the family near Harrisburg and became a successful seed farmer. Luella grew up with a very conservative Mennonite church. She would recall how the church was so conservative that it required members to paint chrome bumpers black. She loved education and music, but did not have opportunity to pursue either beyond 8th grade because of the practice of the Mennonite Church. But, the family work ethic, Christian values, and love for Jesus Christ built a fortress in her heart that she stood on for the rest of her life.

At the age of 18, Luella turned a new page in her life. She married Martin Yoder, Jr. on Christmas Day of 1952 and moved to Roseburg, Or. Shortly thereafter they settled on a dairy farm near the small town of Lookingglass, Or. with a population of less than 50. Her stable, conservative background was left in the past. Before she turned 30, she lived through the burning down of her house to ashes, a failed dairy farm that plunged the family into debt, and 6 kids! Life had changed. The family ended up in a small house up in the mountains where the three oldest children had to sleep in the barn.

In 1969, the adventure continued. Martin visited the church in Los Angeles at Elden Hall and was caught by a vision of the church. He then called Luella and told her that the family was moving to L.A. Tears flowed at the thought of leaving the beautiful Oregon country side and family and friends to move to a big city for an unfamiliar church life that was so dramatically different than anything she had experienced. But, the Spirit worked in her heart and she packed up 6 kids, animals, and belongings and drove the family in a VW van 800 miles South to the middle of Los Angeles. A church family with 4 kids graciously took the Yoder family in for several months. The sleeping arrangements for the three oldest children were upgraded to a garage. Soon the family and animals settled a few blocks from Hollywood. The family had chickens, a monkey, an alligator, cats, dogs and so on, kind of like the Beverly Hilbillies, except for the oil. Despite the awkward way of life, Luella began to see truth and experience Christ's life in realms that she had never dreamed of. Later in life she recalled how the truth of reward and punishment propelled her to new heights in Christian growth and how the church meetings infused life into the singing of old hymns.

But, in the summer of 1969, tragedy hit the family. The two teenage sons had gone back to Oregon to help with the harvest on her father's farm. One day in the field, Donald, the oldest, while trying to unjam his combine, got caught in the throes of the blades. He held on for dear life, but by the time he was found, his body had been torn up from the chest to his feet. His feet had to be amputated. After many months of rehab, including learning to walk on prosthetic legs, he lived a rather normal life. Sadly, and especially hard for Luella, Don passed away of pancreatic cancer in 2009.

Luella was a rock. She had no choice. Of course, questions flooded her mind. Did she do something wrong to deserve this? Should the family pack up and move back to Oregon? Luella did not waiver. The Christian values she was raised on and her fresh touch with Christ kept her steady on course, a way of life that would characterize her faithfulness to follow the Lord until the day she left us.

The adventure continued. In the summer of 1970, Luella and family followed Christ's leading to migrate to Chicago to propagate the same church enjoyment that they had experienced in Los Angeles. The families came with no jobs and no place to live. After staying in a YMCA for several months, Luella and family settled in an apartment building with other church families. The older sons sleeping arrangements were now upgraded to a corner of a basement separated by paneling. The city life exposed the children to a plethora of worldly temptations and life-styles they were unaware of when living in the remote Oregon countryside with no media. Luella rarely warned the children, nor imposed heavy restrictions or punishment. She almost never challenged a lie that hid a wrongdoing. But, her loving presence and godly life spoke volumes to the heart. And, it was extremely noticeable that she spent time daily in private prayer to Christ.

God blessed the family in the 70s. Martin became a union plumber with a steady job and the family bought a large house, bedrooms for everyone to sleep in. The church life grew. Luella enjoyed a sweet companionship with sisters in Christ in the neighborhood and developed a burden to reach out to bring others into the fellowship. She and a few other sisters founded a "Sisters' Tea" to be knit together in love and to nurture new believers. This gathering continued for over 40 years and is still thriving today. One of the last things Luella did before her illness struck was to drive a group of ladies to and from the Sisters' Tea, including driving a new believer home.

But, more turmoil soon followed. In the summer of 1978, due to unforeseen events, Luella was left to raise 4 teenage children on her own. Luella hadn't had a job outside of the home. She decided to do what she did best—care for children. She started a home-based day care and worked tirelessly to support her four teenage children, pay the mortgage and daily necessities. She never broke down. She never gave up. Her Christian faith and consecration to the church only increased. When served with divorce papers, she refused to sign them, even with the realization that an uncontested divorce had dire financial consequences. In her mind, she had married for life and so kept her wedding ring on her finger until the end. She never remarried, but rather served her Lord faithfully in the church every day of her life.

Luella was not a public speaker, neither was she comfortable in the forefront of church activities, but she was always there: cleaning the bathrooms in the church meeting hall, cooking for love feasts, assisting the piano player in church meetings, hosting prayer/fellowship groups weekly, and cooking for the sick and needy. She hosted thousands of dinners, each time with her special cooking touch and her famous baked delicacies. Luella's house was always a place of hospitality. She welcomed people from all walks of life, including church leaders, high school kids who needed a temporary residence, youth groups traveling through the city, young people attending trainings, Christians from Africa; and the list goes on and on. Years later, one of those kids became her daughter-in-law. Luella's serving exemplified the old saying, "Speak the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

Luella always put the well-being of others before herself, in business and at home. In her children's minds, she was terrible at business. She would, at times, babysit for parents that could not pay, with the explanation that others needed money more than her. She would sell 10-20 of her home-made loaves of bread every week and bake and decorate cakes for weddings and birthdays for little profit. To Luella, it was about serving others and not financial gain. In 1987, she joined a Hurricane relief effort in Taiwan, shining God's glory through good works overseas.

Luella loved her family. She looked forward to her weekly "circle letter" that circulated among her siblings for over half a century and she traveled to Oregon as much as possible to visit them. Luella loved her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Her children knew they could always count on her to help in difficult times; she was always their strongest supporter; and, she celebrated their good times and felt their pain in the hard times.  She never forgot a birthday or wedding anniversary. Everyone got a card. She loved hearing about their activities, accomplishments, or just their feelings for the day. She would come to as many concerts and performances as she could, even if it meant traveling to California, Texas, or Philadelphia.

Thanksgiving was special to her. She would often plan months in advance to receive as many of her family as possible. There was always a delicious, traditional feast, including her warm rolls from the oven and her raspberry jam (the raspberries were from her bushes in the back yard). She would sit at the head of the table and quietly enjoy the chaotic conversation around the table. She was especially interested to know the spiritual well-being of each, and then she would commit each in prayer. Christmas also was special.  Every year Luella would make candy (peanut brittle, toffee, fudge, and more) and date cookies to share with family and friends. Luella played the piano throughout her life and loved to sing hymns, and each Christmas she looked forward to singing in the Messiah in downtown Chicago. She also treasured this seasoned because she got to spend time with her family.

Luella's life was extraordinarily difficult in several ways, but she also experienced blessings from the Lord; her life was full of color, as in a precious stone for God's building, a treasure to Christ.  She will be sorely missed by us remaining on earth.

She is survived by her sisters, Allene Smucker-Klasson and Nadine Young, by her children, Lowell Yoder (Frannie), Vern Yoder (Esther), Rhonda Berglund (John), Rita Wells (Tom) and Douglas Yoder (Caroline),16 grandchildren, Alexis, Carleton, Nathan, Renee, Jason, Paul, Michelle, April, Rebecca, Benjamin, Bethany, Tyler, Leanna, Savannah, Tori, Derek, and 2 great grandchildren, Addison and Carter.