* Lucile C. Shiffer; Ex-Department Store Official

Lucile C. Shiffer, a homemaker and former department store assistant manager, died Sunday in Santa Paula after a brief illness. She was 78.

She was born Feb. 3, 1922, in Claremont, Minn., where she grew up and went to school.

During World War II, she met her future husband, Harold Shiffer, while on a train trip. The couple married on April 25, 1943.

Her husband grew up in the San Fernando Valley, where his father was a caretaker for film director Cecil B. De Mille’s thoroughbred horse ranch in Little Tujunga Canyon. After the war, they made San Fernando their home.

The 1971 earthquake severely damaged their home in Sylmar, and they moved to Newbury Park. For 15 years, she worked as assistant manager of the Sprouse-Reitz department store in Newbury Park.

They retired in 1992 and moved to Santa Paula.

She like to crochet and knit, making beautiful blankets for her grandchildren, great grandchildren and friends.

In addition to her husband of 57 years, she is survived by daughters Carol Moore of Woodland, Calif.; Janice Severn of Calabasas and Sandra Garnett of Westlake Village; seven sisters and one brother, all of Minnesota; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation will begin at 8 a.m. today at Pierce Bros. Stetler Chapel in Santa Paula. Funeral services are scheduled at 2 p.m. in the Stetler Mortuary Chapel, with the Rev. Merle Lehman of the First United Methodist Church officiating. Burial will follow at Santa Paula Cemetery.