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Elva Mae Godfrey

May 17, 1933 ~ July 30, 2023 (age 90) 90 Years Old

Obituary

Elva Mae Godfrey, 90, of Arkansas City, KS passed away July 30, 2023 at Presbyterian Manor of Arkansas City.

Elva's family invites friends to a celebration of life service at 11:00 AM on Saturday, September 16, 2023 at the First Presbyterian Church of Ark City. Memorial contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Arkansas City or Winfield, donations may be left in the care of the Shelley Family Funeral Home of Ark City.

Elva Mae was born on May 17, 1933 in Mayetta, KS to parents Glen and Elva Eva (Blair) Gagnebin. After high school, she attended Southwestern College where she received a bachelor’s degree. On January 30, 1955, she was united in marriage to the love of her life James Godfrey, they were married for 68 wonderful years. Jim’s work took them all over the world, starting in Chicago, then New Mexico, Africa, South America, Holland, England, Dubai, Abu Dabi, Iran, Peru, and then to Arkansas City in 1984 to the family farm. Elva taught biology wherever they lived including Ark City, she enjoyed sharing her knowledge with anyone she met, she helped teach English to the Lao community for many years. In her free time, she enjoyed reading, bargain hunting, photography, crafts, gardening, and sewing, and she had a porcelain repair shop and did brass rubbings. Elva was a member of First Presbyterian of Winfield. She was always very cheerful and positive, always looked at the positive, and she never gave up or ever held a grudge, she said it was a waste of time. She enjoyed encouraging her family, and most of all she loved Jesus and her family.

Survivors include her husband James, son Scott Godfrey (Rebecca), daughter-in-law Cheryl Godfrey, son-in-law Andrew Senior, grandchildren Shannon Land, Richard Godfrey, Anthony Senior, Peter Senior, Lucy McDaniel, Ezra Godfrey, Alexander Godfrey and Eliza Godfrey, and five great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her son Marc A. Godfrey, daughter Kim Senior, and her parents.