Kay Alderfer Obituary

Kay Soder Alderfer

Kay Soder Alderfer of Downers Grove, IL, died June 18, 2015. She was 65 years old. Born in Evanston, IL, in 1949, daughter of Earl and Alice Soder, she grew up in Downers Grove graduating in the first class of Downers Grove South in 1967. She earned a bachelors degree in education and journalism from Northern Illinois University in 1971. In 1974, after three years of study and training in Philadelphia, she was consecrated a Deaconess of the Deaconess Community of the Lutheran Church in America.

She was editor for educational resources with Lutheran Church Women, the national women's organization of the church. Then served on the staff of the Deaconess Community in promotion and interpretation. She married The Rev. David Alderfer on May 15, 1976, and moved from Pennsylvania back to Illinois where she earned a Masters Degree in interpersonal communication from Governors State University, Park Forest, 1978.

She was then called by the Lutheran Church to be the first female editor of adult resources at the Division for Parish Services of the Lutheran Church in America, Philadelphia, a position she held for 8 years. While writing and editing Christian education curriculum, she earned a Ph.D. from Walden University, Minneapolis, in 1986. In 1989, she moved with her husband to Downers Grove and founded Gentle Pathways, a center for spiritual counseling and guidance. Her clients included children with AIDS and epilepsy, adults with post traumatic stress, and transgendered persons.

She retired in 2014. Author and editor of many publications, she wrote, With Those Who Grieve: Twenty Grief Survivors Share Their Stories of Loss, Pain and Hope (Lion Publishing), 1994. She was also a skilled photographer.

Kay Soder Alderfer is survived by her husband, David; two sisters, Sara Soder Logan of Oakland, CL, and Lisa Soder of Napa, CL; and a brother, Tom (Leigh Ann) of Savannah, GA.

Visitation Monday, June 22nd 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Adams-Winterfield & Sullivan Funeral Home, 4343 Main St. (1 blk. So. of Ogden Ave.) Downers Grove. Family and Friends will meet Tuesday, June 23rd 9:00 a.m. Visitation until time of Service 10:00 a.m. at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 4501 Main St., Downers Grove. Interment Clarendon Hills Cemetery.

For information, 630/968-1000 or www.adamswinterfieldsullivan.com