Merle Lucile Motisher

December 8, 1920 - April 20, 2020

With profound sadness we announce the passing of Merle, devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother in April 2020. She left us as we held her in our arms at her residence in the Royal Highlands community, Leesburg, FL Merle was loved and will be missed by her daughters Karen Green (Art), Leesburg and Jennifer Berlin (Jeffrey) of Porter Ranch, CA. She will be forever in their hearts as grandmother to Jennifer Green, Michelle Smith (Sam), Joshua Berlin (Beth), and Jaclyn Schroeder (Paul) and great-grandmother to Nicolas and Natalie Ramirez; Savannah Smith; Ian, Emma, Grace, and Lucy Schroeder. She was born in December 1920, in Rock Island, IL, as the eldest daughter to Walter and Fannie (Skates) Daebelliehn. Merle was preceded in death by her husband, Lewis Motisher; guardian Marion Singer Cooper Chellew; three sisters, Leona Rankin, Betty Schmaltz, infant Daebelliehn; and former husband Richard Endsley. After leaving Illinois, Merle spent her early childhood in Elkhart, IN. Following the untimely death of her mother during the Great Depression, she was brought to the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Children's Home in Knightstown, IN. While there she came under the guardianship of Marion and Charles Cooper who eventually became grandparents to her daughters. After graduating high school at the Home, Merle lived with the Cooper's and attended Butler University until she ventured out on her own supporting the home front labor force and USO activities. Merle lived a full life as a wonderful mother, homemaker, and bookkeeper. She loved to read, keep an immaculate home, travel, and was skilled enough to play duplicate bridge most of her adult life. Most of all she loved her family and instilled in her daughters strong values that have served them well. She was a strong, determined and fiercely independent woman. We will miss her every day. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26 Because of the world pandemic, no services will be held at this time. Arrangements are entrusted to Page-Theus Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Leesburg.