Obituary - Eleanor Jane (Eaton) Stollfus

Eleanor Jane (Eaton) Stollfus, 89, Harrisonville, Missouri, died Friday, October 18, 2013 at her home. Memorial services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, November 2 at the Atkinson Funeral Home in Harrisonville with visitation from 2:00-2:30. Inurnment will be held Monday, November 4 at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Springfield, Missouri. Memorial contributions may be made to Cass County Council on Aging.

Eleanor was born September 22, 1924 in Erie, North Dakota, the daughter of Lawrence and Minnie (See) Eaton, second born of five girls. They moved to Bemidji, Minnesota in 1928, where she attended one year of school, before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1931. The family moved often in the area with frequent school changes. Eleanor graduated from Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minnesota, the first graduation class following the start of WWII.

She lived in Minneapolis and worked at the Strutwear Knitting Mill for two years following graduation before becoming eligible to enlist in the Women’s Army Corps in October, 1944. She received her basic training in Ft. Des Moines, Iowa, then medical technical training at Wm Beaumont Army Hospital in El Paso, Texas. She was then assigned to Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, California, where she served until September, 1946. She was transferred to Vienna, Austria, where she was assigned to the Judge Advocate Section as a Chief Clerk. She returned to Letterman Hospital in January, 1948 and served in the Information & Education Office. She was re-assigned back to Austria in September, 1949, serving in Salzburg as First Sgt. for the WAC Detachment. Eleanor returned to the States in 1952 and served in Washington, D.C. at the Pentagon and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology for her last year in service. She was honorably discharged in September, 1953 with the rank of Master Sergeant.

Eleanor spent several months at home in Mora, Minnesota with her parents and youngest sister, Carol, before venturing to Yuma, Arizona to go into a small business with an Army friend. She met and married Alvin H. Stollfus on January 30, 1954 and their three children, Nancy Louise, James Alvin and Brian Lee were all born there. The family moved to Purdy, Missouri in 1963.

After her youngest child started school, in the early 1960’s, Eleanor went to work for St. Vincent’s Hospital in Monett. She moved to Minnesota where she worked at a state hospital for disabled and disfunctioning children and adults from 1964-1967. They moved back to Missouri in September, 1969, again working in Monett. She sought and found employment at the Missouri TB Sanatorium in Mt. Vernon, Missouri. She became an LPN in 1972 and continued working for the hospital. The hospital went through name changes, which included Missouri State Chest Hospital and later renamed Missouri State Rehab Center. She then retired in 1986.

Eleanor loved life and had a deep devotion to her family, her Savior, Jesus Christ and loyalty to her beloved country. She had godly parents who taught by example of the Golden Rule. Her father admonished to “Always leave the woodpile a little higher then you found it,” which she tried to follow throughout her life. She became a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1985. She was also a member of the Harrisonville VFW Post 4409.

Eleanor was preceded in death by her parents and three sisters. She is survived by one daughter, Nancy Shelton (Bill), Harrisonville, Missouri; two sons, James Stollfus (Peggy), Mt. Vernon, Missouri and Brian Stollfus, Springfield, Missouri; one sister, Bonnie Homes, Mora, Minnesota; 5 grandchildren, Isac, Kyle and Naomi Shelton and Michael and Garrett Stollfus; and 4 great-grandchildren, Ella, Isabelle and Alexa Shelton and Logan Stollfus.
“Eleanor was and always will be in a League of Her Own!”