November 14, 1930 to September 21, 2018
Eileen Patricia Conley went home to be with the Lord she loved on Friday, September 21, 2018.
Second-born to Alice and Doc in Depression-era Los Angeles in 1930, Eileen was a true California girl. Committed to sunshine, outdoors, and her music, Eileen navigated the challenges of her parents’ troubled marriage with her own growing love of life. Her radical conversion to Jesus Christ in 1947 redirected her life’s trajectory. She left California for Alberta, Canada, and Prairie Bible Institute. Her longing to be a missionary led her to the Biola School of Missionary Medicine, where she studied nursing. In her three years in Peru, South America, Eileen loved the Quechua people, riding muleback in the Andes, and eventually meeting Joseph Forbes Conley. Joe and Eileen married in 1960. Medical needs of their firstborn daughter Janet (1962) led Joe and Eileen to return to the U.S. (Philadelphia), where Eileen served as an administrative assistant to Joe in his work as director of the Regions Beyond Missionary Union. Daughter Sharon was born in 1966. In 1989, Eileen and Joe moved to South Florida and partnered in establishing La Iglesia Hispana de Boca Raton. She also served as administrative assistant to the pastors of the First Baptist Church of Deerfield Beach. Eileen’s bright spirit and her love of simplicity, beauty, and creation shaped her life. Ever playful, Eileen’s bright light brought joy, happiness, and laughter to her family and friends.
Eileen spent her last days in Nashville, TN, sharing her love and brightness with daughters Janet and Sharon and son-in-law Stephen. Eileen was preceded in homegoing by her beloved Joseph Conley (2016). Her family includes her daughters Janet Conley and Sharon Conley Cottingham (Stephen); her step-grandchildren Lauren Cottingham, Miles Cottingham, Emily Cottingham, and James Cottingham; her brother Robert Elliott (Corky); her sister-in-law May Stehfest; nieces Ruth Williams, Carol Stehfest, Wendy Dusanic (Larry); nephew Paul Stehfest (Lisa); brother-in-law Robert Conley (Delores); and her friends that are family: Ann and Jerry Kins.
Services to honor Eileen’s life will be held in Nashville, TN, and in Coconut Creek, FL.
Friday, September 28 at 3pm at The Upper Room Chapel, Nashville, TN 37212.
Early 2019 at North Creek Presbyterian Church, Coconut Creek, FL 33073.
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