Faustine Keen Sheffield, The Official Butterfly Lady, 94, of Fitzgerald, died Friday, March 30, 2012, in Dorminy Medical Center.
Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Sunday, April 1, at Arbor Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. Lloyd Stembridge officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery. Visitation will be held 7-9 Saturday evening at the funeral home.
Mrs. Sheffield was born December 29, 1917 in Abbeville, GA to the late U. Simon and Delilah Watson Keen. The tenth of thirteen children, she lived in Ben Hill and Wilcox counties all of her life, graduating from Wilcox County High School in 1937. Mrs. Sheffield was a former restaurant and motel manager and a retired dental hygienist. She was also a writer and poet, having written a book of poems which she gave to her family and friends. She enjoyed sewing clothes, quilting and crafts. Mrs. Sheffield was a Dimented Member of the Order Of The Eastern Star and a member of AARP. One of the oldest members of Arbor Baptist Church, joining in 1954, she was a former Sunday school teacher, Training Union teacher, adult Sunday school director, Vacation Bible School Principal, and a member of the Arbor Lights Choir. After her daughter’s death from rheumatoid arthritis, Mrs. Sheffield organized an Arthritis Council under the leadership of the Arthritis Foundation of Georgia, raising enough money to equip a therapy room at Dorminy Medical Center and sending thousands to the Arthritis Foundation of Georgia. She was a member of The Fitzgerald Garden Club where she served as president for four years and chose as a project to beautify the entrances of the Evergreen Cemetery. She was a member of the Ben Hill County UDC Chapter # 1137, serving two terms as president. Mrs. Sheffield was the official Butterfly Lady of Fitzgerald, speaking to over 37 different church clubs and organizations on what was happening to these beautiful creatures.
She is survived by her son, Max Sheffield of Fitzgerald; grandchildren, Josh (Kim) Sheffield, Statesboro and Jill S. (Kevin) Griffin, Douglas; great grandchildren, Kelsey Griffin, Nicholas Griffin and Sara Beth Sheffield; sister, Frances Maddox of Fitzgerald; caregiver, Dana Bunday, as well as, several nieces and nephews. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Lynn Sheffield, husband, Earl Sheffield and a daughter-in-law, Linda K. Sheffield, 5 sisters and 6 brothers.