Rev. DeWitt Sheffield
April 6, 1932 – November 16, 2016
Funeral services for Rev. DeWitt B. Sheffield, 84, of Indianapolis, IN, formerly of Cairo, GA, are at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, November 22, 2016, at Springhill Christian Church, 7186 Maddox Rd, Ochlocknee, GA. Interment will be in Springhill Christian Church Cemetery, Ochlocknee, GA. Mr. Sheffield passed away peacefully, following a long battle with Frontotemporal Dementia, on Wednesday morning, November 16, 2016, in the Assisted Living Memory Care Center at Robin Run Village, Indianapolis, IN.
DeWitt was born on April 6, 1932, in Miller County, Georgia to Tom Black and Gladys Roland Sheffield. He grew up there with his brother, James Sheffield (Joan), sisters: Jeanette Jordan (Charles), Wynell Williams, and Delory Blackmon (William). He attended Georgia Public Schools and graduated from Miller County High School in 1951. While in high school, he was active with football, baseball, drama and debate. He served 5 yrs. in the Georgia National Guard, attended Berry College in Mount Berry, GA and graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens in 1959. He spent time teaching and coaching before completing his Master of Divinity degree at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, KY, in 1964. He spent the next 42 years serving churches in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Indiana. DeWitt retired as a minister with the Christian Church, (Disciples of Christ). The valued friendships and church family established during those years are beyond measure.
Survivors include: his college sweetheart and wife of 62 years, Jean Mitchell Sheffield, from Grady County Georgia; their children, Jim Sheffield (Marolyn), Kay Swoveland (Randy), DeAnne Whittington (Richard), Joe Sheffield (Judy); and 16 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren. In addition to his siblings; his brother-in-law Alvin Mitchell (Faye); many nieces, nephews, extended family; and friends, notably the “Hardee Boys” in Cairo, also morn his passing.
He was preceded in death by: by his parents; his mother and father-in-law, Joe P. and Alice Mitchell; sister-in-law, Christine Maxwell and her husband Durrell Maxwell; brother-in-law, Charles Jordan; and nephews, Andy Mitchell, Allen Maxwell.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in DeWitt’s memory to: Berry College, Class of 1954, Endowed Scholarship Fund, P. O. Box 490069, Mount Berry, GA 30149.
The family is grateful to: The Meeks Mortuary, Muncie, IN; and Clark Funeral Home, Cairo, GA, for assistance with funeral arrangements, and to those whose kindness and prayers God has used to comfort our hearts.
