Zeda Lorene Diefendorf

Zeda Lorene Diefendorf, 102, formerly of Otterville, Missouri, passed away Thursday, July 30, 2020,at Golden Oaks Assisted Living Center near Marshall, Missouri.

She was born on December 18, 1917, in Warrensburg, the daughter of Lottie and Frank Haller. On May 28, 1948, in Warrensburg, she married Frank Diefendorf, Jr. They celebrated 48 years of marriage before his passing in 1997.

Zeda received her elementary education in a one room rural school and then graduated from Warrensburg High School. After receiving her teaching education from Central Missouri State College in 1946, at the age of 19 she began a teaching career lasting 33 years. Her first teaching position was in a one room rural school at Pleasant Point near Warrensburg. She also taught in Monsterrat, Centerview, Hughesville, Otterville, and Syracuse. Over those years she endeared herself to many parents, students, and colleagues. Parents described her as “good as gold” and students praised her as someone who did more than teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. “Everyone loved Mrs. Diefendorf and couldn’t wait to get into her room. Many of us can look back on our education and point out that one teacher who nurtured and encouraged us to become our best. For me, that was Mrs. Diefendorf. One day she took me aside and putting her hands on my shoulders to face her, she looked me in the eye and said, ‘you can do anything you set your mind to do’. I never forgot those words.”

She was a member of the Otterville Methodist Church. She loved adventure and trying new things. In her young, independent years, she along with her sister and cousin traveled to Colorado by car to visit and stay at a ranch in the Rockies. She had fun during college being a synchronized swimmer…but her biggest thrill came when she pulled on her waders, grabbed her fly rod and the flies she had made and pursued the lunkers waiting for her at Bennett Springs. She was an avid cruciverbalist…someone who enjoys and is skilled at solving crossword puzzles and other word puzzles. She had her puzzle books by her bedside when she died. She always had a jigsaw puzzle in the making, and her room displayed complicated puzzles that were saved and framed. Oil paintings (favoring mountains with alpine lakes) she had done also decorated her home. She got a big kick out of being tasked to teach the newbies at Cedarhurst how to play Skipbo. She loved yelling “BINGO” (which she was doing two days before she died) and would never pass up a game of Mexican Train. Staying true to form she followed her mantra to the end “I see no good reason to act my age.”

Zeda is survived by two sons, Larry (Bonnie) of Smithton and Rick (Anna) of Columbia. She is also survived by six grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

Besides her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a son, Keith Diefendorf; a sister, Lucille; and two infant grandchildren.

Memorial services for Zeda will be 2 PM Saturday, August 15, 2020, at Meisenheimer Funeral Home in Otterville. Visitation will be held from 1-2 PM prior to the service. Interment will be in the Otterville Cemetery. Masks and social distancing will be required.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to St. Jude Children Research Hospital.

Online condolences may be submitted at www.meisenheimerfuneralhome.com

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