Lula Stahl

Lula Harper Stahl, January 27, 2016, age 86, late of Fithian, formerly of Ogden and Champaign. Beloved wife of the late C.L. "Dick" Stahl. Cherished stepmother of Richard (Valerie) Stahl and Mary Ann (Thorlow) Baker. Loving sister of Bertha (the late Edward) Whitmore, the late Gertrude (the late John) Barnard, and the late Edward (the late Ruth) Harper. Fond aunt of John (Sophia) Barnard, the late Thomas (Patricia) Barnard, Rena (Richard) Moran, Ann (Mark) Hanzlik, and the late Stephen Whitmore. Lying in state at the Muncie Baptist Church, 205 Main St., Muncie, Illinois, Monday from 10:00 am until the time of funeral services at 11:00 am. Interment at Stearns Cemetery, Fithian, Illinois. Lula was born in Fithian, Illinois, on January 5, 1930, to Edward Harper and Lula Holt Harper. Lula grew up in Fithian with three older siblings: Bertha, Gertrude, and Ed. As the youngest child in the family, she was called "Babe"-a fond nickname that followed her into adulthood. Lula was always an animal lover. As a child, she liked horses but was not permitted to ride the plow horses that her father used out in the fields. But that didn't stop Lula and her brother, Ed, from sneaking a horseback ride one day. No one would have known, except that Ed fell off the horse and broke his arm. After graduating from Oakwood Township High School, Lula worked in retail jobs in Champaign and Danville. She was employed for a number of years at Kuhn's department store in Champaign. Her love of fashion and her distinctive personal style contributed to her success at the store. She even was featured in store ads that appeared in a local newspaper. In 1955, Lula married C.L. "Dick" Stahl, and they settled down to domestic life in Champaign. Lula was an avid gardener who always had a beautiful yard. After her marriage, she continued to work in retailing. Lula's love for her family was apparent in the amount of time she spent visiting her parents and other relatives at the family farm in Fithian. She was a fun-loving aunt to her nieces and nephews, and a fond stepmother and step-grandmother to her husband's children and grandchildren from his first marriage. In 1969, Lula's beloved mother died, and Lula and her husband moved first to Fithian, and then to Ogden, in order to be close to her widowed father. In 1979, Lula suffered two devastating losses in the space of a few days: first her husband died, and then her father also passed away. Eventually, Lula moved back to the family farm in Fithian, to the house where she grew up and where she was happy to spend the rest of her life. She died on January 27, 2016, on the same day that her mother had died forty-seven years earlier, in 1969. Lula was always steadfast in her devotion to the memory of departed loved ones. She frequently visited and cared for the family graves in Stearns Cemetery in Fithian. Now Lula joins her parents, her husband, and other family members in her final resting place at Stearns, just down the road from the family farm, which she loved so well. Sunset Funeral Home, Oakwood Chapel, has been entrusted with assisting the Stahl family in celebrating her life. Please join her family in sharing memories and photos of her life on her tribute wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.