Alma A. Liebman

Nearly ten years ago, Alma Uphoff Liebman (still well amongst the living) sat in the front row of her own funeral. This should give you some indication that at 90 she was still amazingly determined to do it her way. But she wasn’t born as we saw her then. She, of course, evolved into the woman known as Alma, Mrs. Liebman, Aunt Alma, Mom, Grandmama, and Uppy to a very few.

This evolution began on December 29, 1921, when she was born in the family farmhouse in Mattoon, Illinois. She was the fourth child of what would eventually be six young Uphoffs: Gilbert (Gib), Arnold (Cap), Agnes (Sike), Alma (Al), Harriett (Hattie) and Lilly (Lee). Their parents, Christian and Gladys, raised their brood doing what farm families at the time did: planting and harvesting their crops with horses and mules; raising chickens for eggs, meat, and feathers; sending their children to the one-room schoolhouse at the corner of their property; and going to church on Sundays.

Coming from this rural setting in a country that was in an economic depression did not stop Alma; there were places that she was determined to go and things that she was determined to achieve. These included being a teacher, a mother, and having a place to call home. The first step of this plan was to attend college at ISNU Teaching College where she graduated in 1943 with a double major in English and physical education and a minor in math. She then went on to teach in Gurnee, the Panama Canal Zone, Gibson City, and Springfield - at Washington Jr. High and, finally, at Springfield High School. Over the span of 42 years she taught an estimated 7,500 students, leaving many of them with a lasting knowledge of the benefits of living a healthy life.

Alma married John Liebman (deceased) in 1948, and in 1955 they bought land in Springfield, Illinois, and began building the Gully – the home she wanted and where she continued to live for the rest of her life. Here she and John raised their four children: Chris Liebman (Peggy Knox), Roxane Lehmann (Dan), Robin Sullivan (Bill (deceased)), and Rochelle Liebman (Bob Gorg). Her immediate family also includes those who call her Grandmama: Jacob and Leah Liebman; Dent Lehmann (deceased) and Ashton Lehmann Kovatch (Kevin); Cavan Sullivan (Sydney; children Titus, Archer, and Truman), Chelby Albrecht (Matt; children Alta Rose (deceased), Hadley, Annie, Lucy, and Sully), Shilo McCreery (Cameron; daughter Emerson), and Steele Sullivan.

Alma was determined to live her life her way until the end. And through much of the last decade, she was busier than ever. Her schedule was full as she spent time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, played her weekly game of table tennis with friends, went to her monthly classical book club, attended the First United Methodist Church in Springfield, hosted live-in foreign exchange students, tended her horse, fed her chickens, and much, much more.

On March 10, 2021, Alma (at the age of 99) left the Gully feet first just as she planned.

A service will be held at a later date.