Elizabeth V. Jefford born to William Dalton and Daisy Hise Dalton in 1927 in Stanford, Illinois, Elizabeth (Dibby) Virginia Dalton Jefford grew up with her parents, her brother Robert Morse (Joe) Dalton and her sister Dorothy (Dottie) in the farming community of Stanford and then Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. She graduated from Bloomington High School and the Illinois Wesleyan-Brokaw School of Nursing. While completing a round of training, she met the love of her life, Lloyd (Jeff) Jefford in Peoria, IL. They married in 1948 and celebrated 53 years of marriage before Jeff’s passing in 2001. They moved to Aurora, Illinois in 1957 and retired to Gulf Shores, AL – their ‘happy place’ – in 1983.
Dibby had an active career as an occupational health nurse, working at Hiram Walker Distillery in Peoria and then Caterpillar Tractor in Aurora, where she retired after 25 years. After ‘retirement,’ she earned her real estate license and sold real estate in Gulf Shores, AL for 15 years, then worked for the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, sharing the city she loved with those visiting and moving to the area.
She was also an active wife and mother. She and Jeff were inseparable and most enjoyed traveling with their daughters Tami and Teresa as they were growing up and then even more in retirement. They traveled extensively throughout the US as well as Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Dibby moved to Orlando in 2014 to be closer to her daughter Tami Kaiser and her husband Jim and her granddaughter, Jennifer Kaiser. Dibby stayed active and engaged with her family and in her new church home, First Presbyterian of Orlando.
Dibby was predeceased her husband Jeff and her daughter Teresa as well as her parents and her brother. She is survived by her sister, her daughter and son-in-law and her granddaughter.
There will be a memorial service celebrating her life on Thursday, July 14, at 11 am in The Reformation Chapel of the First Presbyterian Church of Orlando with a reception following in The King Parlor. Bret Allen will officiate.