Lillie Julia Spiker

Lillie Julia (Sharp) Spiker was born March 6, 1922 in Long Pine, Nebraska to Rev. Lewis Alexander and Ethel Saloma (Firth) Sharp. She passed peacefully Friday, February 9, 2018 in Arvada, Colorado. After graduating high school, Lillie became a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Pine Glen, Nebraska -- a profession that brought her tremendous joy. Although she worked for several years as a reconciliation clerk for Denver National Bank, which was far longer than she taught school, she always told people she was a schoolteacher when asked. Lillie loved teaching. As recent as a month ago, Lillie was concerned with her re-certification to teach school this upcoming school year.

As a young girl, Lillie helped work the family farm until her father sold it and became a fulltime Baptist preacher. She often recalled the trips she and her dad took to town to sell produce they had grown in their garden. She milked the family’s one cow every now and then, though her Dad did not like her doing that; “That old cow is mean and she will kick you”, he often told his daughter. Lillie told stories of her family’s experience during the Nebraska dust storms in the 1930s, how she gathered cow chips for the family cook stove, and how she carried a stick to keep the rattlesnakes away from her while she played by the river.

On March 15, 1941, Lillie married Donald Everett Spiker in Hooker County, Nebraska. Shortly afterwards, they moved to Denver to work and start a family. Three sons were born to this union: David Eugene, Duane Leroy and Dennis Ray. Lillie enjoyed sewing for her boys and husband, painting, and dancing. She often volunteered with the Denver Senior Center and Public Library after her sons were grown. Lillie made the best apple pie and cookies of anyone around, and when her three sons served in the U.S. Army -- all at the same time -- she regularly baked cookies and sent them care packages from home.

Survivors include her son Duane (Janet) Spiker, daughter-in-law Joanne Spiker, grandchildren: David Spiker, Brenda Hoffman, Jeff (Heather) Spiker, Julia, Jana, Luke (Amy) Spiker, and Don Spiker, great grandchildren: Noah, Nathan, Shawnda, Sharee, Dacia, Josh, Zach, Brooke and Kyle, and several nieces and extended family members. Her husband Donald, sons David and Dennis, parents Lewis and Ethel, and siblings Vernon, Clarence, Elnora, and Elmer preceded Lillie in death.