EHRHARDT, (Stiehl) Ilo Mae Selma

CAREW, HANSON, KOCHANSKY, PAHLAS, WALTHER

Posted By: Gayle Van Dyke (email)
Date: 9/1/2015 at 16:08:34

Ilo Mae Stiehl Ehrhardt, 93, of 5 Lakeview Dr., Mason City, died Tuesday, February 22, 2011, at Heritage Care Center in Mason City. A celebration of her life will be at a later time as Ilo Mae wished to be cremated.

Ilo Mae Selma Stiehl Ehrhardt was born on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1917, near Garnavillo, Iowa, to Karl and Iona (Pahlas) Stiehl. In 1919, the Stiehl family moved to rural St. Olaf, Iowa.

Ilo Mae graduated from Garnavillo High School in 1934, and then attended Elkader Junior College. After graduation, she spent several years teaching country school in Clayton County.

On August 20, 1939, she married Carroll G. Ehrhardt at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Garnavillo, Iowa, where she had been baptized and confirmed. Carroll and Ilo Mae then moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where Carroll worked at Rath Packing Company and Ilo Mae at Kelvington’s Floral Shop. Carroll joined the U.S. Navy in 1944. Ilo Mae and young son, Denny, moved back to live with her parents and grandmother. She once again taught rural school.

After Carroll’s discharge, he farmed with his father-in-law until 1946, when he and Ilo Mae purchased the Hawkeye Locker in Hawkeye, Iowa. They ran the locker until retirement in 1976. They then moved to West Union, Iowa.

Ilo Mae’s retirement included selling Tupperware for a few years. What she enjoyed the most was her twenty-five years as an Avon Representative. In 2006, after Carroll’s death, she moved in with her daughter in Mason City.

Ilo Mae is survived by a son, Dr. Dennis K. Ehrhardt of Lafayette, Louisiana, a daughter, Debra L. Hanson of Mason City; three granddaughters, Deanna (Scott) Carew, Cindy (Robert) Kochansky, both of Canton, Georgia and Kristin L. Hanson, Mason City; great-grandchildren, Austin and Kayleigh Carew and Julia and Katarina Kochansky all of Canton, Georgia.

Ilo Mae was preceded in death by her parents; her husband who died in 2006 and a sister, Fern Walther.

from Leonard Funeral Homes website