Edna Frances Siefried, 89, Sterling, passed away July 8, 2013. She was a resident at Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush. Visitation will precede the 1 p.m. service on Friday, July 12, at Chaney Reager Funeral Home, 443 S. Second St., Sterling. Burial will immediately follow at Riverside Cemetery, Sterling.

Frances was born May 7, 1924, in Russell Township located in Macon County, Mo., to Joseph and Eva Williams Bain. She was the oldest child in a family of three boys and four girls and is survived by sisters Evelyn Nadine Bryan of Ottawa, Kansas, and Juanita Jacobs of Zellwood, Florida.

Frances grew up in the country near Lingo, Mo. Growing up between the world wars and during the Depression shaped her life. Her formal education was completed at eighth grade; even so, she was hard to surpass when a word was spelled aloud in an attempt to determine its pronounciation.

Not quite 18 years of age, she married Fred F. Denney on Feb. 6, 1942, and, with him, had eight boys.

Busy as mother and wife, she claimed that every day with all the boys was a major laundry day.

Frances was happiest when she was on the go and was ready to move to a different house, a different town, and a different state whenever the opportunity arose. During her life, she lived in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Colorado.

Once her sons were raised, she worked as a private caregiver for the elderly and as a certified nursing assistant in nursing homes in Missouri and Kansas.

The truth is that she was very proficient in the kitchen and made an excellent chocolate cake.

Frances made sure the boys went to Sunday school because church was important in her life.

She was always quick to smile or laugh but possessed an inner strength that could not be ignored. She could certainly convey her opinion when she snapped her eyes as only she could do.

Her survivors include six children, Rodger Denney of Salt Lake City, Utah, Phillip Denney and wife Connie of Blue Springs, Mo., Deryl Denney of Mexico, Mo., David Denney of Sterling, Woodrow Denney and wife Nancy of Sherwood, Ark., and Tom Denney and wife Cathy of Macon, Mo.; nine grandchildren, Leanne, Marla Kay, JJ, Freddy, Anita, Athena, Amber, Alaina and Steven; and seven great-grandchildren, Tyler, Cody, Courtney, Sierra, Haylee, Bowdie, and Cayden.

Frances was preceded in death by her first husband; two sons, Fred Jr. and Donald; two grandchildren, Chari Denney and Stuart Denney; and daughter-in-law, Daisy Denney. Clarence Siefried, to whom Frances was married in 1981, also preceded her in death in 2009.