Eloise has seen a lot of changes in her lifetime; she is celebrating her 100th birthday in December. She is sharp as a tack, recalling her past in vivid detail and reminiscing about being a Rosie the Riveter working at Honeywell soldering mercury switches for airplanes during WW II, her family, travels, work, and volunteer history.
Eloise was born on December 21, 1923, and raised in the small town of Starbuck, Minnesota. Her dad died at the start of the Great Depression when she was only four years old; she was the third oldest and only girl of four children. Her mom received a widow’s pension and worked as a cook on the coke wagon during the thrashing season, and at restaurants, and the hospital. Thank goodness they had a large, extremely close extended family to support her mom. There were thirty-eight cousins, twenty-two of which lived in Starbuck. Of these cousins, two (91 and 94) are still living in the Twin Cities.
Back in those days there were no sports for girls. Eloise played along with the boys in football, basketball, and bowling. During her senior year of high school, she lived with a doctor’s family taking care of their small children. She is still in touch via email with the oldest girl who now lives in California. There were thirty-four in her graduating class. Back then it was quite common that six or seven students out of her class grew up with one-parent homes due to the death of a parent. After graduation, there was no financial aid for college, so she worked as a receptionist at the doctor’s office for two years until he enlisted in the military.
Eloise met her future husband in 1939 when his family bought the general merchandise store in Starbuck. Jim finished his senior year and then joined his family that summer. The two met and knew each other for five years before getting married. Jim joined the Army and went overseas and worked in shipyards during WW II. They got engaged when he came home on a break. They got married on December 5, 1944. Jim went to Dunwoody and then opened an autobody repair shop in Starbuck where he worked until his retirement. They shared seventy-two wonderful years together before he died at the age of ninety-four.
Eloise and Jim had four daughters – Mary, Marti, Marge, and Mara: eight grandchildren (four girls and four boys), and eighteen great grandchildren (3 girls and fifteen boys). Eloise stayed home to raise the kids until 1972 when their youngest daughter graduated from high school. During this time, she was very active in her church, the hospital auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, bowling league, bridge club and volunteering at the Veterans Administration. After her daughter’s graduation, her friend, who managed the local nursing home, asked Eloise to work for two weeks filling in typing as a ward clerk. Those two weeks turned into 11 years. While she was not ready for retirement, her husband was. They sold the autobody business and moved to Norway Lake North of Willmar where they lived until moving to St. Cloud in 2004.
During their marriage, Eloise and Jim traveled to every state (except Mississippi), Canada, Mexico, Europe, Norway, Sweden, Denmark. They also took four cruises. They won the cruise to the Bahamas at the first senior expo in Willmar. Their most memorable vacation was to Norway. Their daughter Mara was working for a wealthy family, and they got to stay at their mansion for three weeks while the family was away. Another memorable trip was to California where they stopped by the studio filming Truth or Consequences with Bob Barker. They had a chance to go on the show, but Eloise said no – her husband never let her live it down! Also, very memorable was meeting Senator Hubert Humphrey. When introduced, her husband said, “it’s very nice for you to meet me.” It caught Senator Humphrey off-guard, and he laughed. That connection came in handy when they discovered their daughter Mara’s passport had her name misspelled. She was close to leaving on an international trip to Norway, so they called Senator Humphrey’s office, and his aide remembered them and helped them to get her passport corrected in time.
Eloise and her family are immensely proud of their Norwegian heritage. They make lefse every year, Kolache (a Bohemian sweet bun with poppyseeds), and other delicacies. Eloise used to lead the lefse charge but now her kids and grandkids take on the task.
Out of all her accomplishments, Eloise is most proud of her family and her Norwegian heritage. She feels she has been very blessed with a long, happy life. She still does all her own cooking and enjoys many activities. She says her secret to longevity is living a healthy lifestyle by eating a healthy diet full of vegetables and exercise. She also credits growing up spending a lot of time playing and working outside, building up a healthy immunity. Other than having a stent put in at the age of seventy-four and ongoing eye issues, she is extremely healthy.
In July 2016, Eloise and Jim had put their names on the waiting list at Good Shepherd. Unfortunately, Jim fell ill in September, was in and out of the hospital, before having a stroke and passing very quickly. Eloise moved to Good Shepherd in June 2017. She is incredibly happy here and says, “the staff is wonderful, and I’ve met so many wonderful friends, good people!”
We are proud that Eloise calls Good Shepherd home!