LaVonne Uldine Steffy went to heaven on September 25, 2025.  She was 92 years old and died of multiple organ failure due to sepsis.

Uldine was born on November 24, 1932, to Jesse and Florence Young in Ottumwa, Iowa.   She accepted the Lord as her Savior when she was 14 and graduated from high school in 1950.  The public library invited her to join the staff and after a year sent her to library school for summer school training.  During that summer the Lord spoke to her about becoming a missionary and on New Years Day she yielded to God’s call.  In September 1953 she went to Baptist Bible College.  It was there that she met David Steffy in February 1955 while working in the combination bookstore and library, and they were married that same year on September 3^rd.  She graduated in 1956, David graduated a year later.  They had 3 children, Jane, Joanna, and Jon between 1957 and 1961.  David did a year of internship at Canton Baptist Temple and then pastored a church in Marshfield, Missouri for a short time.  They were approved as missionaries to the Philippines in 1958 and went on deputation.  Then in 1960 they got on a merchant ship to go to the Philippines in January, and the captain decided to take a northern route and they thought they would not live to reach the Philippines.  They started many churches and Bible schools in several different locations during the time they spent in the Philippines.   Many Filipinos were saved and a lot were trained to go out and start new churches, not just in the Philippines, but in other countries.  The number is close to 200 Filipinos that have gone out to other countries as missionaries, even to creative access nations.   They retired in July 2011, due to Uldine’s health which was exacerbated by the Philippine heat and humidity.

Mom loved music, outdoors, and reading.  She wrote a book, Never Alone, that was published in 2008 telling how music, especially hymns, helped her through the hard times.  She was also a wonderful teacher.  Her kids were home schooled when in the Philippines and she taught us some of the subjects and I looked forward to my lessons with her.  She also taught in the Bible Schools they started – English, music, and any Bible class she was asked to teach.  She also taught Sunday School and a lady’s class at Park Crest Baptist Church that I thoroughly enjoyed.  She taught Filipinos how to sing and directed choirs.  She sang specials and put special music and drama events together for Christmas, Easter, and for missions’ conferences.  She always wanted to listen to music, and we had quite a collection of tapes, records, and CDs.  She was always wanting us to gather round a piano, or whatever instrument we might have, and sing with her.  She was also a wonderful cook and loved cooking.  Mom was a lot of fun, she was mischievous, but she always had to be doing something.  If she was sitting, she would feel like she was wasting time.  She was big on celebrating Christmas, birthdays, and other holidays.  Even with all of this, she was a wonderful, loving mother.  After my sister, dad, and brother died, Mom and I formed a closer bond.  She is in heaven now with Jesus and all those who have gone before her and she’s no longer in pain and I think she’s singing with the angels, worshiping and praising God.  I played the song “The Risen Lamb”, for her the Sunday before she died and she was enthralled by the music and felt like she was already in heaven.

Uldine is predeceased by her husband, David Steffy, oldest daughter, Lydia Jane Wade, son and daughter-in-law, Jon and Bobbie Steffy.  She is survived by her daughter, Joanna Steffy, six grandchildren, Donna, Christy, Cheryl, Donnie, Cindy, and Esther and 4 great-grandchildren, Jackson, Emersyn, Ayden, and Elwyn.

The viewing will be at noon at Park Crest Baptist Church, followed by a funeral service at 1 PM on Monday, September 29, 2025.  The burial will be on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 11 AM at Missouri Veterans Cemetery, for family only.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Greenlawn Funeral Home South.