Deborah Ruth Spragg Sallee Englefield

Deborah Ruth Spragg Sallee Englefield, age 88, died peacefully on Sunday, May 28, 2023. Ruth was born Sept. 12, 1934, in Steubenville, OH, to Edgar and Eleanor Spragg, the fifth of nine children. She attended Springfield High School and Wittenberg University. She also was awarded a painting scholarship to Indiana University. She was a lifelong member of the First Lutheran Church in Springfield and was devoted to it. After school, she married Jack Sallee and traveled the world as an Army wife. In 1982 she married Robert Englefield. She and Bob spent many happy years together before he passed away in 2018.

She is survived by her sons, Mark Thomas Sallee and Robb Kameron Sallee (Katherine); grandchildren Kameron Davis Sallee, Tara Sallee and Bryce Sallee; brothers, David Spragg (Jane) and Jerry Spragg (Karen); dear family friend, Brenda Stepp; sister-in-law, Melinda Spragg; as well as stepchildren, Robert Englefield Jr. (Melissa) and Ellen Weidauer; and step grandchildren, Kara Mae Borovich (Jon), Zachary Englefield (Stephanie), Jennifer Weidauer, Harold Chatfield Reynolds VI, Chelsea Lee Reynolds, and several step great grandchildren. She also leaves behind her beloved cat, Baxter.

Ruth was a woman of many gifts, a talented painter, an inspiring math teacher, and a business partner in her husband Bob’s optometry practice. She was a vital, loving, and generous woman who fought through many health infirmities so she could spend more time with her two families. And she will always be remembered for her famous saying, “Oh sugar plum plum!” on those rare occasions when she was provoked. She will be deeply missed.

A celebration of her life and faith will be held on Friday, June 2nd at 1:30 p.m. in the First Lutheran Church, 30 S. Wittenberg Ave. Springfield. The family will receive friends from 11:30 am -1:30 pm prior to the service. The burial will follow in the Rose Hill Burial.