Obituary of Ortha P. Neff

Ortha P. Neff, age 106, of 1 Oaknoll Drive, Iowa City, Iowa, died Monday, December 13th at Oaknoll Retirement Residence. Ortha was born February 2, 1915, to John Theodore and Grace Green Neff at Nichols, Iowa. Following high school, she attended Ottumwa Heights Jr. College and taught at Pike Country School. She received a B.A. degree from the University of Iowa and taught high school at both Charter Oak and Knoxville, Iowa. From 1943-45 she served with the Red Cross in military hospitals in Hawaii and Okinawa. At the end of World War II she became a Girl Scout executive working in Anderson and Bloomington, Indiana. She received her Master’s degree at Indiana University; then she worked for the Chicago Girl Scout Council. After appointment to the National Staff of the Girl Scouts, she worked in offices in Kansas City, Missouri, Heidelberg, Germany, and San Francisco, California. At retirement she moved to Oaknoll Retirement Residence in Iowa City. She was a Cradle Roll member of the Nichols Methodist Church and later a member of the Church of the Nazarene in Iowa City. She was preceded in death by her parents, three sisters: Theodora Harder, Marie Jansen, and Marcella Barnhart, and three brothers: Merton, who died in infancy, Duane Neff, and Ralph Neff. A sister-in-law, Gene Neff of Muscatine, ten nieces and nephews, and a number of great nieces and nephews and their children survive her. Her family would like to thank the staff of Oaknoll Retirement Residence and Dr. Nicholas Butler for their compassionate care of Ortha. At Ortha’s request, her body was donated to the University of Iowa College of Medicine for her to continue her lifelong passion for teaching. To share a thought, memory or condolence with her family please visit Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service website @ www.gayandciha.com.