Lilan Ruth Sprehn
July 6, 1927 - November 18, 2021
Obituary
Lilan Ruth Sprehn, age 94, of Federal Way, WA passed away Wednesday, November 18, 2021 in Puyallup, WA. She is survived by her son, Jeff Sprehn and his wife, Lena (Olympia, WA), her daughter, Lylan Wilcox (Redmond, WA), and her son, Daryl Sprehn (Woodland, WA). Her daughter Bobbi Sprehn passed away on April 6, 2020. Lilan is also survived by 5 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren.
Lilan was born in 1927 in Ohio to Paul Heasley and Viola Schlegel. She spent most of her childhood growing up in the Los Angeles area and graduated from high school and also attended the Pasadena Community college.
On October 1, 1946 Lilan married Robert Emil Sprehn and was happily married for 52+ years until Robert’s death in 1998. They met shortly after Robert was discharged from the U.S. Marines where he was one of Admiral Spruance’s bodyguards for most of World War II.
Lilan and Robert continued to live in the Los Angeles area. During this time, Jeff was born in 1948 and Lylan was born in 1951. The couple then moved from California to Washington in 1955. Shortly after Bobbi was born in 1957 and Daryl in 1959.
During the initial years in Washington, Lilan worked for the phone company in Seattle and as an office manager for a couple of heavy equipment companies in South Seattle. When she was no longer working (for pay), she was the bookkeeper for her husband’s South Sound Plumbing business.
After Robert’s retirement, the couple moved to Federal Way, WA. During these years, Lilan donated hundreds of hours knitting baby hats and caps for women cancer patients going though chemotherapy at St. Francis Hospital. She volunteered at that hospital for 31+ years. During that time she contributed 42,402 hours of her time between knitting and assisting in Medical Staffing. Of those hours 2,059 of those were spent within the hospital doing clerical work and helping at the flu clinics.
After “retiring” from the volunteer work, Lilan hosted weekly card parties for neighbors where dominos, pinochle and cribbage were the attraction.
Until her injury two months prior to her death, Lilan was a 94 year old “Real Go Getter” living independently, driving herself here and there, making her own meals and watching her Turner Classic Movies.
Lilan will be very much missed by her family and all of her many friends.
At Lilan’s request, there were to be no services held.
Ginny Leach, I was. ss s a neighbor of Lilan’s and we became close friends. During the Covid times she and I would meet a couple of times a week for a glass of wine and lively conversation. I tried to take care of her when she needed it and she helped when she could. I will miss her greatly.
I will fondly remember our times together in your later years, when I was able to really get to know you through phone calls and visits, and in which you were always up-beat and welcoming. It was a great joy to me and witness to many that you remained extremely active in your volunteer work at the hospital and within your community as long as you did, and were a good and faithful friend to many throughout the years. Mostly, though, I remember the love you shared with my dear Uncle Bob throughout your many (though fsr too few) years together. Now THAT was something beautiful to behold! I hope and pray you two are united once more.
A great loving aunt.. She is missed