Olitha Emma H. Kipfmiller- - Livonia, Michigan - Age 89 years, former resident of Bay City and Saginaw, passed away Monday, March 28,2011 in Livonia. Olitha was born March 23,1922, in Akron, Iowa, daughter of Robert C. and Elizabeth (Groehler) Schmidt. As a child she also lived in Faulkton, SD. and Watertown, WI.On January 6, 1946 she married Rev. Clifford H. Kipfmiller and moved with him to Belleville, MI. She was a godly Christian mother, raising five children in the "fear of the Lord" and a dedicated pastor's wife, helping her husband serve WELS Lutheran congregations in Belleville, Hopkins, and Dorr, MI. He preceded her in death on January 12,1967.Olitha moved to Bay City and worked in the Bay County prosecutor's office and later at the Bay County Health Department until her retirement in 1987. In 1972 she married Aubrey Stewart of Saginaw who also predeceased her.She was a former member of St. John Lutheran in Bay City, a member of St. Paul Lutheran in Saginaw, the OWLS senior group, and the American Business Women's Association. She did volunteer work at the Lutherans For Life Pregnancy Counseling Center.

Survivors include her children, Barbara L. Graves of Plymouth, Marie A. (Jim) Price of Hudsonville, Rev. David A. Kipfmiller of Westland, and Ruth (Tony) Sullivan of Milan, IL. She is also survived by two sisters: Lucille Lenius and Margaret (Oscar) Hackbarth of Watertown, WI; by two brothers: Lloyd (Betty) Schmidt of Delavan, WI, and Brent (Lois) Schmidt of Watertown, WI; by brother-in-law Adam Kipfmiller of Bay City, MI and sister-in-law Delores Schmidt of Watertown, WI; by eight grandchildren: Rusty Graves, Stephanie Lorber and Stacie Graves; Michelle Bannick, Ryan Stewart and Janine Wagner ; Paul and Sean Sullivan; 12 great-grandchildren; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.She was preceded in death by a son, Paul A. Kipfmiller; her parents; her sisters Rosalia Graf and Eleanora Piper; and her brothers August, Elmer, Wilmar, Martin, Arthur and Robert Schmidt.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church, Saginaw with Rev. William Brasso officiating. Burial will be in Poplar Hill Cemetery, Monterey, MI. Family and friends may call at the W.L. Case Funeral Home, 4480 Mackinaw Rd, on Friday from 2 to 5 pm and 7 to 9 pm and then at the Church from 9:00 am to the time of service. Memorials to St. Paul Lutheran Church would be appreciated. "Blessed are they who die in the Lord."