Lapp, Erma Mae Hertzler Stoltzfus (1916-2007)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2007 Nov 5 p. 9

Birth date: 1916

text of obituary:

ERMA STOLTZFUS LAPP

Erma Mae Stoltzfus Lapp, 91, of Dock Woods Community in Lansdale, Pa., died Oct. 26, 2007. She was born to John M. and Lena (Swartzentruber) Hertzler in Morgantown.

She graduated from Morgantown High School in 1935. Prior to her marriage she was a seamstress in a factory in New Holland.

She married E. Frank Stoltzfus, who preceded her in death in 1975. She then married I. Wilbur Lapp, who preceded her in death in 1995.

She and her first husband had a dairy route in Warwick before they began operating a farm near Oley, where she lived from 1947 to 1979. She was a member of Oley Farms Women’s Society and Oley Mennonite Church, where she was a Sunday school teacher and member of the sewing circle. After her second marriage, she joined Methacton Mennonite Church in Fairview Village.

She was unusually talented and creative in quilting, crocheting, sewing and knitting, and her handmade items are treasured heirlooms. She loved music, and during her youth sang alto in the Morgantown chorus and sang four-part harmony all her life. She was president of Montgomery County Quilt Society and enjoyed playing card games with her friends at Dock Woods. She was an avid flower and vegetable gardener.

Survivors include three sons, William F. Stoltzfus and his wife, Ruth, of Winfield, Donald L. Stoltzfus of Reading and Robert T. Stoltzfus and his wife, Joyce, of Columbia; two stepchildren, Nancy L. Falconer and her husband, William, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., and Will T. Lapp and his wife, Jackie, of Sellersville; a sister, Cora Umble of Atglen; five grandchildren and four step-grandchildren.

In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by a brother, Ralph S. Hertzler; and four sisters, Linda A. Lapp, Mabel Landes, Grace Stoltzfus and Alta Hertzler.

Funeral services were held at Dock Woods Community Chapel in Lansdale. Burial was in Oley Mennonite Cemetery.