Roma H. Yops

STEVENSVILLE – Roma H. Yops, 86, of Stevensville, died on Saturday, April 14, 2007, at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph. A service celebrating her life will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Stevensville with Pastor Gerald Schroer officiating. Burial will follow in Graceland Cemetery in Lake Township. Friends may visit with the family on Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home in St. Joseph and again one-hour prior to the service at the church on Wednesday. Memorial donations may be made to the church or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Roma was born on November 20, 1920, in Eau Claire, to Adam and Grace (McGuirk) Knefely. She graduated from Eau Claire High School in 1938. On February 8, 1940, she married Richard Yops in Benton Harbor. They have lived on a farm three miles south of Stevensville since 1946. She was a member of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. Since 1999, she was a real estate agent in Stevensville. Her greatest love was for her family – her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She will be deeply missed by her family. She is survived by her husband, Richard; three daughters, Judith (George) Loeffler and Kathleen (Ward) Sanden, both of Stevensville, and Janice Brown of Bridgman; a sister, Phyllis Powell of Bridgman; a brother, Harry (Marlene) Knefely of South Bend; her grandchildren; and her great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter, Nancy Sommer; and four brothers, Peter, Charles, Jimmie, and Adam Knefely.