Otto, Eleanor Mae (1919-2016)
OTTO, MILLER, ARP, PRETIANCE, STEWARD, ERICHSEN, SARGENT, MCADON, BUHR, SEATON, AUCH, JERRED, MONACO
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 9/10/2016 at 18:04:20
Eleanor Mae Otto
January 27, 1919 - August 28, 2016Surrounded by her family, Eleanor M. Otto, age 97, of Storm Lake, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 28, 2016, at the Methodist Manor Retirement Community.
Eleanor Mae Otto was born to August J. and Neta (Arp) Miller on a farm near Hanover, southwest of Alta, Iowa, on January 27, 1919. She was baptized on January 31, 1919. Regrettably, her father died when Eleanor was only 5 ½ years old. Later, her mother, with four daughters, moved from the farm to Alta where Eleanor attended grade school. After her mother remarried in 1930, the family moved to a farm just west of Storm Lake. Eleanor attended St. John’s Lutheran Church in Storm Lake and was confirmed there on June 4, 1933. Next, she enrolled at Storm Lake High School where she graduated in 1937 with a letter in typing.
On June 4, 1941, Eleanor married Earl E. Otto. They were blessed with three children, James, Nancy, and Bruce. They lived in Storm Lake for a short time and then moved to a farm north of Alta where they resided for four years. In the spring of 1947, Earl and Eleanor built the Otto Furniture store on North Lake Avenue in Storm Lake. At this time, just a couple of small businesses existed in that area, and the street had just two paved lanes. Earl and Eleanor opened their furniture store for business in September, 1947. They remained active in the business for about forty-seven years. Eleanor worked as the bookkeeper, but occasionally helped in the store after the children grew up.
Earl and Eleanor became charter members of Grace Lutheran Church in Storm Lake. A long time Sunday School teacher, Eleanor taught at both St. John’s and Grace Lutheran Church in Storm Lake.
Earl and Eleanor loved to travel and visited all fifty states and most of the Canadian provinces as well as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Jamaica, Acapulco, and several places in Mexico.
Eleanor, especially, loved her home and family. She found a real joy in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Eleanor was preceded in death by her husband, Earl; her son, James; her granddaughter, Angela Leigh Otto; and her sisters, Verna Pretiance, of Carroll, Iowa, Evelyn Steward, of Seattle, Washington, and Lorraine Erichsen, of Hartley, Iowa.
Eleanor is survived by her daughter-in-law, Janet Otto, of Spirit Lake, Iowa; her daughter, Nancy (Craig) Sargent, of Story City, Iowa; her son, Bruce (Jane) Otto, of Storm Lake, Iowa; and her grandchildren: Julie (David) McAdon, David (Brandi) Otto, Douglas (Jennifer) Otto, Alicia (Tim) Buhr, Jennifer (Marcus) Seaton, Rachel Otto, Marie (Jason) Auch, Rochelle (Brandon) Jerred, and Christina (Jeremy) Monaco; as well as by sixteen great-grandchildren.
Funeral service will be held Thursday, September 1, 2016, at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Storm Lake. Burial will follow in the Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake. Visitation will take place Wednesday, August 31, 2016, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements.
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