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Elma Jeanette Russell Hueftle
On Sunday, November 27, 2016, in Evansville, Indiana, Elma Hueftle passed out of this life into our Life with Christ Jesus.
Elma was born April 27, 1935, in Dundee Scotland, the only child of John and Janet (Balharrie) Russell.
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Elma's father was a weaving mill manager; her mother a surgical nurse. During WWII bombings, Elma and her mother were evacuated from the city to rural areas.
As a student at the local Morgan Academy, Elma was blinded in a field hockey accident and home-schooled for a year during which she heard on radio the heart-changing Passion play by Dorothy L. Sayers and believed the good news of Christ Jesus. Her pastor had seen the promise in Elma and had early on engaged her with the Iona Community and the summer youth camps on the Island of Iona.
When she graduated from St. Andrews University with a degree in Logic and Metaphysics, she moved to the more exciting city of Edinburgh, first to teach second grade in a small coal-mining village nearby, then work as a probation officer. With her in Edinburgh, the pastor prompted her to go help the Old Kirk, a pastorate in a tough neighborhood (where she eventually met Keith Hueftle, an American minister assigned there by the Iona Community).
Marrying, they came to America: to a Detroit inter-racial pastorate, to the Detroit Riots of '67, to marching with Martin Luther King (in Detroit as well as in DC). Their house was home to interracial leadership, friends, and summer youth teams.
All three children were born in Detroit. Mothering and the training of mothers quickly became Elma's "career": leadership in a young mothers' co-op, and organizing immense parenting conferences. Then, as the children grew, she taught French, Shakespeare and Business English at the YMCA. With Keith, she became involved in leadership in the Cursillo movement, there and upon moving to southern Indiana.
In New Harmony, Elma worked with the Weaving Studio, the bookstore, and as "chef" for the Barn Abbey (Keith's ministry). She began a pre-school with friends, which continued on with their move to Evansville. In Evansville, she was invited to be a MOPS mentor for pre-school moms, a role she played for 18 years.
In all this, Elma has been primarily "Mom." Of all her many mini-vocations, mothering has been the greatest call on her life.
Elma is survived by her husband, O. Keith Hueftle; son, Ben (Amy) Hueftle; daughter, Jennifer (Larry) Reagan; son, Jonathan (Dana) Hueftle; and grandchildren, Conner, Ryan, and Cameron Reagan and Jonathan Caleb, Emily, Alec, and Samuel Hueftle.
Service will be at Alexander East Chapel, Saturday December 3, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will be 9 a.m. until service time.
The family thanks Southern Care Hospice and the fine care of Evansville Protestant Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Barnabas Ministries for the widow of Barnabas Ministries' recent director, Rod Murray. Please indicate on the memo line of the check: Murray Memorial. Send to 2810 West Franklin Street, Evansville 47712.
Condolences may be made online here.
Source: Evansville Courier Press
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