Vera Sterling

CUYAHOGA FALLS - Vera Eileen Sterling, 100, passed away October 24, 2018. She was born in Cuyahoga Falls, the daughter of the late William John and Mabel Wallis.

She grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, graduating from Falls High School. She earned her two-year teaching degree at Kent State Normal College.

She was a dedicated teacher, beginning her career as a young woman in Cuyahoga Falls and picking it up again later, in the 1960s, after her children were in school. She taught first-graders at Brimfield Elementary School for more than 20 years. She loved seeing the spark of excitement in non-readers when they started sounding out words and began enjoying reading.
After starting a family in Cuyahoga Falls, Vera bravely agreed to leave the city and moved the family alongside her husband Dale to a small farm east of Ravenna in the late 1950s. She found herself doing things she never expected -- churning butter from the family cow, raising chickens, canning vegetables and making "the best" strawberry preserves. They lived on that property for 40 years.

Vera valued her family and friends and had a gift for making people feel welcome and comfortable in her home. She liked nothing better than to host Sunday dinners and big cookouts in the wooded area surrounding their house. Her grandchildren fondly remember her great macaroni and cheese and she always had time to play cards and board games with them. They recall her blockades in Parcheesi were brutal.

She and Dale were active members of the First United Methodist Church of Ravenna. They sang in the choir and loved golfing and playing bridge with a group of close friends from the church.They returned to Cuyahoga Falls in the 1990s, rejoining the First United Methodist Church.

Preceded in death by her husband, Dale H. Sterling, in 1998; Vera leaves beloved children, Suzanne (Richard) Eley, Michael (Rebecca) Sterling and Lisa (Robert) Higgs; 11 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.

Memorial calling will be held 1 hour prior to a 2 p.m. memorial service on Sunday, Nov. 4 at the First United Methodist Church, 245 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221. Inurnment will be in Oakwood Cemetery. Memorial contributions, if desired, may be made to the church organ fund. Services entrusted to Clifford-Shoemaker Funeral Home and Crematory, 330-928-2147.