Memorial services were held Oct. 16 at First United Methodist Church in Jefferson for Suzanne Sievers, 69, of Jefferson.
Words of comfort were offered by the Rev Julie Poulsen, pastor of the church. Peg Raney was soloist. Honorary bearers were Suzanne’s grandchildren Reed VanNordstrand and Madelyn and Kinley Sievers.
Interment will be held at a later date at the Jefferson Municipal Cemetery.
Suzanne Whitaker Sievers was born in Bethany, MO, on November 12, 1949, to Clifford and Gladys Whitaker. She died on October 16, 2019, in Jefferson.
Suzanne grew up on a farm in Mt. Moriah, MO, and graduated from Bethany High School. She attended Maryville State College first as a math major, then as a home economics education major. In 1971, she moved to Walnut, IA, for her first teaching job.
In Walnut she met Don Sievers and they married in 1974. Suzanne completed a master’s degree at Iowa State University before moving to Jefferson, where she took a job as a home economics teacher at Jefferson High School. During her 25-year tenure at the school, Suzanne founded the Ram Restaurant and pre-school program, which are still successful today.
Suzanne next focused her talents on opening her business, Suzanne Sievers’ Designs. She created wearable art and tie-dye in her basement and eventually opened a store front in Jefferson. After many years of exhibiting at craft shows and art festivals, Suzanne combined her love of teaching and sewing and opened the Stitch, a quilt shop and sewing classroom, where she built a community of cherished friends and loved going to work each day.
Suzanne will be remembered for her kindness, encouragement, creativity, and love for sewing, good food, cruises, wine, and coffee. She was dedicated to the Jefferson community as a teacher, artist, business owner, and friend, and was courageous and positive throughout her many surgeries and battles with cancer.
Suzanne is survived by her children, Shelby (Rod) of Council Bluffs, Chris (Calista) of Ankeny, and Ashley (Jaimeson Parkin) of Minneapolis; grandchildren Madelyn, Kinley, and Reed; brother John (Joyce) Whitaker; sister Rita (Dale) Tidwell; many sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law; and nephews and nieces.
She was preceded in death by her husband Don, in 2017; parents Clifford and Gladys; and several aunts, uncles, and siblings-in-law.
Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home of Jefferson assisted the family.
