Lucille Falling

Lucille Falling passed away on Jan. 27, 2021, at Westminster Village in Muncie, Indiana. Florence Lucille Lennex, who always went by Lucille, was born in Dennison, Ohio, daughter to Thomas and Carrie Lennex. In 1948 she became a student at Anderson College in Anderson, Indiana, where she met her future husband, Leroy Falling. They were married in Park Place Church in Anderson on June 16, 1950. As newlyweds, Lucille and Leroy spent their early years serving as missionaries to the Nez Perce people in Lapwai, Idaho, as well as ministering to migrant farm workers in Oregon. From there, her husband’s career assignments in the Bureau of Indian Affairs took them to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona where Lucille and Leroy raised their four children before moving in 1968 to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Lucille earned a degree in Education from UNM, teaching for several years until her husband’s transfer to Washington, D.C. In Washington, D.C., Lucille served as an executive secretary in the Department of Interior. In 1983 the couple took up residence in Anderson, Indiana, and Lucille continued her work with the Department of Interior until her retirement. She was active in the Women of the Church of God and particularly in her younger years sang and played the piano regularly in church. During her years in Anderson, Lucille attended the East Side Church of God. Throughout their retirement years, Lucille and Leroy kept a welcoming house in Meadow Woods, where family gathered regularly. Lucille and Leroy Falling laid out their plan together at the time of their engagement citing this poem: Our lives to His cause we dedicate And seek God’s will from above, That we, together, led by His Presence Might be to others, channels for His love. It was a plan they followed all their lives. Lucille was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Kathryn Lennex; a brother, Frances “Red” Bower; her husband, Leroy Falling; a granddaughter, Sarah Lucille Falling Newman; and a daughter-in-law, Valerie Falling. Survivors include her four children: Sidney Lee (Gayle) of Gurley, Alabama, Stanton Thomas (Carol) of Wiesbaden, Germany, Rev. Timothy Jay (Tina) of Tijeras, New Mexico, and Sali Kay (Loren Malm) of Anderson, Indiana. She is also survived by beloved grandchildren Jill Falling of Gurley, Alabama, Carrie Falling (Mark Barrett) of Dunedin, New Zealand, Frances Lee Falling (Lorenz) of Berlin, Germany, Benjamin Falling of Anderson, Indiana, Joshua Falling of Webster, New York, Jordan Falling (David Lamb) of Webster, New York, Cullen Kelly of West Sunbury, Pennsylvania; and greatgrandchildren Dakota Towers, Ramiro Towers, Andre Towers and Madelyn Towers all of Gurley, Alabama, and Louise Charlotte Falling of Berlin, Germany. Due to the dangers associated with gatherings at this time, no public services or memorials will be held. Burial will be under the direction of Luginbuel Funeral Home, at Timpson Chapel Cemetery near Vinita, Oklahoma, where Lucille will lie next to her beloved husband, Leroy. The family requests that no flowers be sent, but would be honored for memorial contributions to be made to a scholarship fund designated by the donor or to the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Response Donation Fund. Though she did not contract COVID, any contribution made in her name during this time of great need would honor Lucille’s long friendship with the Navajo people.

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