Phyllis Idele Aronson, 97

Published 11:21 am Friday, January 20, 2012

The funeral service for Phyllis Idele Aronson, of Ellendale, will be 11 a.m. Monday at First Lutheran Church, Ellendale. The Rev. Richard Sliper will officiate. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be one hour before the service at the church. Bonnerup Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.

Phyllis Idele Gardner Aronson, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away Jan. 17, 2012. Phyllis was born May 30, 1914, near Stewartville to Alta and George Washington Gardner, the second of four children. Phyllis graduated from Stewartville High School in 1932. She went on to Winona Normal School with preparation for teaching. Phyllis taught in rural one room schools in the southeastern part of Minnesota. Mr. L.A. Arnold hired her from the Pine Island school district and she came to Ellendale for the 1938 school year, then stayed in Ellendale until 1943. She then took a teaching position in the Hopkins school district, staying there during World War II. She applied for an elementary position in New Richland, where she taught one year. She then taught one year in Owatonna. During this time, she also traveled to Chicago, New York, Seattle and the West Coast with her sister Doris and friends from Rochester.

Phyllis and Joyce C.H. Aronson were married on July 27, 1947, at the Gardner farm near Oronoco. To this union six children were born. Phyllis quit teaching because she said she had a school room at home. When her children were growing up, she volunteered as a Girl Scout leader and a den mother for the Cub Scouts. After teaching for 15 years, she kept busy by selling World Book Encyclopedias, Fuller Brush and Amway products. Phyllis always raised a big garden and used the produce to make good things to eat. She would have a treat ready when her children came home from school. Phyllis loved to share her creations with neighbors. When there was a celebration, she would invite neighbors and friends to share in the bounty.

The family is blessed with her memory. The survivors are Carla and Burton Scripture, of Motley, Paul and Ross of Ellendale, and Linda and Ann of Roseville; grandchildren: Helen Schubert of Story City, Iowa, Doris and David Steele of Grimes, Iowa, Beth and Ryan Klaahsen of Little Canada and Micah and Cassie Aronson of Geneva; step-grandson, Dane Harvey of North Carolina; great-grandchildren: Abby Schubert of Oklahoma, Garrett Schubert at West Point, Wesley and Keith Steele of Grimes, Iowa, Rhet, Lauren, and Cooper Klaahsen of Little Canada and Violet and Chrysantha Aronson of Geneva; brother-in-law, Leo Wentland of Holdingford.

Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, Alta and George W. Gardner; husband, Joyce Aronson; son, Jon Aronson; sister, Doris Wentland; and brothers: John Gardner and George A. Gardner.