Suzanne Sievers

November 12, 1949 - October 16, 2019

Suzanne Sievers Jefferson, Iowa Date of Death: October 16, 2019 Memorial services for Suzanne Sievers, 69, of Jefferson, will be held at 11:00am Monday, October 21, 2019 at First United Methodist Church, Jefferson, IA. The family will be present to greet friends at the church beginning at 9:30am Monday. Following the 11:00am memorial service, a meal will be served in Fellowship Hall and the family will visit with friends at that time, too. Private interment will be in the Jefferson Cemetery at a later time. Suzanne Whitaker Sievers was born in Bethany, MO, on November 12, 1949, to Clifford and Gladys Whitaker. She died on October 16, 2019, in Jefferson, IA. Suzanne grew up on a farm in Mt. Moriah, MO, and graduated from Bethany High School. She attended Maryville State College first as a math major, then as a home economics education major. In 1971, she moved to Walnut, IA, for her first teaching job. In Walnut she met Don Sievers and they married in 1974. Suzanne completed a master's degree at Iowa State University before moving to Jefferson, IA, where she took a job as a home economics teacher at Jefferson High School. During her 25 year tenure at the school, Suzanne founded the Ram Restaurant and pre-school program, which are still successful today. Suzanne next focused her talents on opening her business, Suzanne Sievers' Designs. She created wearable art and tie-dye in her basement and eventually opened a store front in Jefferson. After many years of exhibiting at craft shows and art festivals, Suzanne combined her love of teaching and sewing and opened The Stitch, a quilt shop and sewing classroom, where she built a community of cherished friends and loved going to work each day. Suzanne will be remembered for her kindness, encouragement, creativity, and love for sewing, good food, cruises, wine, and coffee. She was dedicated to the Jefferson community as a teacher, artist, business owner, and friend, and was courageous and positive throughout her many surgeries and battles with cancer. Suzanne is survived by her children: Shelby (Rod) of Council Bluffs, Chris (Calista) of Ankeny, and Ashley (Jaimeson Parkin) of Minneapolis; three grandchildren: Madelyn, Kinley, and Reed; brother, John (Joyce) Whitaker; sister, Rita (Dale) Tidwell; and many sisters-in-law and brothers in-law; and nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her husband, Don, in 2017; parents: Clifford and Gladys; and several aunts, uncles, and siblings-in-law. Memorials may be directed to the family. Services were arranged by Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home, Jefferson, Iowa.