Middleton, Lila Jane (Schrader)

Lila Jane (Schrader) Middleton, 87, passed away quietly surrounded by her family on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, at Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy, Hiawatha. Services: 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 15, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Marion, conducted by the Rev. Barbra Keiper. The family will greet friends from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial: Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery, Cedar Rapids.

Survivors include her son, Arthur Middleton of Lake City; daughter, Julia Anne (Rick) Titus of Cedar Rapids; granddaughters, Jennifer Louise Titus of Cedar Rapids, Victoria Lynn Burch of Bloomington, Ill. and Lacie Anne Kalan; her lifelong girlfriends, Janet Schuldt of Rockford, Ill. and Sally Eichman of Tempe, Ariz.; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by parents; sisters, Alice Louise “Sue” (Schrader) Olive and Anna Mae (Schrader) Schuder; brother, William Arthur Schrader Jr.; husband, John Arthur Middleton; and daughter, Janet Louise (Middleton) Burch.

Lila Jane Schrader Middleton was born May 18, 1926, in Rockford, Ill., daughter of William Arthur and Ellen Louise “Nelle” (Bain) Schrader. She married John Arthur Middleton on Nov. 18, 1950, and had three children, Arthur, Julia and Janet. Lila grew up in Rockford with her two older sisters and younger brother. In 1944, she graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C., where the family lived while her father served as an army officer during World War II. In 1947, Lila received her RN degree from the Rockford Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, followed in 1951 by a BS degree in Hygiene from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

A career in nursing began early for Lila. She served as a nurse's aide in Rockford, Ill., and as a cadet nurse member of the JANGO (Junior Army Navy Guild Organization) in Washington, D.C. Upon graduating from the School of Nursing at Rockford Memorial Hospital, she served on the faculty of that school, later moving to Madison, Wis., where she was employed at Madison General Hospital and met her future husband. Lila continued her career in nursing at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, where she worked with patients in a variety of departments, as well as serving on the faculty of the School of Nursing from 1967 to 1986. Her teaching topics were many, including orthopedics and intensive care nursing. After her retirement, Lila served as a member of the St. Luke's Hospital Visiting Nurses Association, working with the elderly in the Cedar Rapids/Marion area.

Lila was an avid reader and a member of the Marion Book Club. She supported several Veterans' Associations and the American Humane Society and maintained connections with her friends and colleagues through the St. Luke's Retired Nurses Association and the Rockford Memorial Hospital and University of Wisconsin Alumni Associations. Above all, Lila was always interested in and supported the activities and achievements of her children and grandchildren, attending countless concerts, recitals, theatre productions, equestrian events, graduations and birthday parties.

As the last member of her generation in the Schrader family, she will be greatly missed by many.

We love you, Mom!

A memorial fund has been established in Lila's memory.

Please sign the online guest book for Lila at under obituaries.

Published in The Gazette Nov. 12, 2013.