Elizabeth Samuel

Dates

Obituary

Elizabeth Samuel Wolfer, 80, formerly of Buckeye, AZ, passed away Sunday, October 9, 2022, in White Lake, SD. Funeral services will be 1:30 PM Saturday, October 15, at Bittner Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Bath, PA where Elizabeth will be laid to rest next to her husband.

Elizabeth Samuel Wolfer was born June 22, 1942, in Bidar, India as the youngest daughter of Rev. J. Samuel and Narsamma Samuel and granddaughter of Shri S. Jothappa, the first converted Christian man from Marjapur-Bidar, India.

Elizabeth was nurtured in Christian faith and attended both Methodist Mission School and Norma Fendrich High School in Bidar. She was an accomplished track and field athlete, excelling in the long jump event.

While in India, Elizabeth received her B.A. degree in Teachers Training (1965), an M.A. in Economics (1967) and a B. Ed (1971) in Education at Karnataka University in Dharwar, India. She moved to the United States in 1971 and continued to further her education, receiving an M.S. in Education (1974) at Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD, and finally receiving her Administrator Training - ADM (1995) at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

Education and teaching were Elizabeth’s life’s work, serving in the positions of teacher, principal, and superintendent. She was devoted to her students and was committed to providing financial support to many of her nieces and nephews in India to help further their education. She was active in soliciting and contributing to the financial support of maintaining the operations of Christian educational institutions in Bidar.

Elizabeth met her husband, Dr. George Wolfer, when they both served as teachers in Aberdeen. They were married on December 29, 1984 in Tucson, AZ and moved to Buckeye, AZ in 1999. Their lives were filled with teaching, reading, art, music, and traveling. Their travels included Germany, England, Mexico, The U.S Virgin Islands, and India. They enjoyed visiting family members throughout the world. She was respected for her ability to recall significant family life events and held the prestige of family historian.

She is survived by her stepson, Jeffrey Wolfer of Upper Saddle River, NJ. She also leaves behind her sister-in-law, Esther Samuel of Sioux Falls, SD; brother-in-law, Anand Michael and his children Veeresh and Sapna Michael of Jackson, MS; sister-in-law, Triza Samuel of Moreno Valley, CA; nephews: Eric Samuel of Moreno Valley, CA, David (Eugenie) Samuel of Culver City, CA, Rev. Sunand “Sunny” Kumar (Leela) Samuel of Sioux Falls, SD, Divisha (Rani) Samuel of Sioux Falls, SD, Dayal (Ruby) Barnabas of Bangalore, India, Edison (Margarette) Samuel of Pasadena, CA, and Shannon Hakeem of Santa Fe, NM; nieces, Anita (Roy) Cavazos of Phoenix, AZ, Shirin Samuel of Pasadena, CA, Sheba (Kris) Krotzinger of Denver, CO, and Sylvia (David) Lancaster of Omaha, NE; and many other family members throughout the world, particularly in the United States and India.

Elizabeth is preceded in death by her husband, George Wolfer; brothers, Anand Samuel, Devadas Samuel, Rev. Jothaya Samuel, George Samuel, Rev. M. Manick Samuel, Dr. Nelson Samuel; and sister, Rev. Sue Michael.

Service

Cemetery