Obituary of Laurene Somers Roddis

Laurene Somers Roddis, a resident of Media, Pennsylvania, since 1974, formerly of Glassboro, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died, Tuesday, July 22, 2014, at Riddle Village in Media, Pennsylvania. Laurene graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education in 1964. Later that year, she began teaching in the Atlanta, Georgia, public schools. After three years, she moved to the Philadelphia area, earned a master's equivalency degree, and taught third grade in the Philadelphia public school system until her retirement in 1997. Laurene was a member and past president of The Country Gardeners, Lima, Pennsylvania, a club dedicated to gardening, conservation, and civic planning. She was a member of the Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, Chapter AI of P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) Sisterhood, an international society devoted to women's education, having served as chaplain before her illness. She was also a member of Gateway Community Church, Media, Pennsylvania. Laurene was a loved and loving wife, an award-winning gardener, a fine cook and hostess, a world traveler, and a teacher not only of facts, but of values such as fair treatment and social justice for all people. She touched others with her appreciation of the value of relationships and with her grace and kindness, and she embraced all that life has to offer. Laurene was preceded in death by her parents, Laurence Somers and Corinne Bobb Somers, and one sister Maureen Vogel. Survivors include Keith Roddis, her loving and beloved husband of 37 years; three sisters, Maxine Evans, Corinne Tranchina and Kathleen Kelly; many nieces, nephews, and in-laws. Memorial Donations may be made to Gateway Community Church, 708 S. Old Middletown Rd., Media, PA 19063