FINLEY, Ella Isabel 1907-2009

FINLEY, COOPER, HIMES

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 12/30/2009 at 20:32:40

OSAGE, IOWA - Ella Isabel Finley, 102, died Monday, December 28, 2009, at the Riceville Family Care and Therapy Center.

Ella Isabel Finley was born on April 21, 1907, to Frank and Emma (Himes) Cooper in Tama County. At the age of seven, Ella moved with her family to a farmstead near LeRoy, Minn., on the State Line Road. Ella attended rural country school. In her early years, Ella worked in Marshalltown at a gauge factory. She met her future husband at a box social in Marshall County.

On April 5, 1930, she married Paul Finley at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. To this union two sons were born, Wayne and Merlyn. Ella farmed side by side with Paul on a farm west of Riceville. The couple retired to Osage in 1971. Ella moved to Decorah in 1998 and currently was a resident at the Riceville Family Care and Therapy Center. Ella's pride and joy were her sons, Wayne and Merlyn. As a product of the Great Depression, she always wanted life to be easier for her boys. Ella was known for opening her home to her extended family. She created beautiful handwork and loved to square dance.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, at Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home in Osage with Pastor Ole Winter officiating. Burial will be at the Osage Cemetery.

Visitation is from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home in Osage.

Ella is survived by her sons, Wayne (Dawn) Finley of Northwood, and Merlyn (Shirley) Finley of Decorah; sister, Frankie Kent, of Adams, Minn.; grandchildren, Connie Phillips, Pattie Beck, Debbie Holm, Doug Finley, David Finley, Laurie Even, and Mark Finley; and sisters-in-law, Faith Tompkins of Houston, Texas; and Chris Finley of Waterloo; and several great and great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded death by her parents; husband, Paul in 1995; and sister, Arlene Roesler.

Arrangements are by Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home, 641-732-3706.

[Published in Globe-Gazette online, December 30, 2009]

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