Beverly Lehman, 1929-2017

A memorial service will be held Friday, March 31, at 11 am at Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home in Jefferson for Bev Lehman, 87, of Jefferson.

Interment will be at the Paton Township Cemetery in a private family service.

Beverly Janice (Condit) Lehman was born on October 2, 1929 to Boyd and Hazel (Hansen) Condit.  Bev was raised in the town and country in and around Paton, IA with her older brother by 14 months, Duane. 

Her earliest memories are of loving school, even before she was enrolled as a student.  She attended Paton Community school, and graduated as valedictorian in 1947.  She then enrolled briefly at Iowa Teachers’ College in Cedar Falls before moving back to the Paton area.

Bev married Dwight Lehman on May 23, 1948, and they raised four boys (Allen, David, Daniel, and Dick), and one girl (Cynthia). They farmed for many years near the small towns of Burnside, Paton and Jefferson before moving to Jefferson in 1965.  At that time Bev took an office job at American Athletic before enrolling at Boone Junior College and then Iowa State University, where she graduated in 1971 as the top scholar in the English Department.

Following her graduation from ISU, Bev taught school at Scranton for nine years and then took a positon at Jefferson Community school system.  She then moved on to take various positions at the Jefferson Bee and Herald until her retirement in 1998 at the age of 70.

Following retirement, Bev and Dwight traveled, with highlights being trips to Europe and Alaska, along with regular trips to visit their children and families in Houston, Chicago, Buffalo, and Lake Panorama.

Bev also had a canny knack for keeping up with technology (of course with the help of her granddaughter Heidi and her husband Sean), setting up a Facebook account and learning how to use a smart phone.  While she used a Kindle for reading, she continued to check out books from the library.

Beverly Lehman died at her home March 26, 2017.  She was preceded in death by her parents  Boyd and Hazel Condit, brother Duane Condit,  son Daniel, and grandson Andy.

She is survived by her husband Dwight Lehman of Jefferson; sons Allen (Susie) Lehman of Houston, TX, David (Coreen Arnold) Lehman of Chicago, IL, and Dick (Nancy) Lehman of Houston; daughter Cindy (Glenn) Summers of Blasdell, NY; daughter-in-law Muriel Lehman of Panora; 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.

Memorials are suggested to the Jefferson Public Library.

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