Halse, Elaine June (Kolaas) 1929 - 2022
HALSE, KOLAAS, FALNES, COURTNEY, PIERSON, DIETZENBACH, ELLINGSON, HANSON, ROSKE, MARTINSON, DAHLE-MELSAETHER, SCHROEDER, GROTH, MYERS
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 9/23/2022 at 12:25:39
Elaine June Halse, age 93, died Saturday September 17, 2022, at Winneshiek Medical Center, surrounded by family and following a brief illness.
Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at Hauge Lutheran Church rural Decorah with Rev. Randy Kittelson presiding. Burial will be in the Burr Oak Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at the Helms Funeral Home, 604 South Ave in Decorah.
Elaine was born June 11, 1929, in Hartford, South Dakota, to Arnold Norman Kolaas and Eleanor Thelma Falnes.
Due to the Great Depression, the family relocated to live with relatives on a farm near Calmar. Unfortunately, at age 7, Elaine sustained a serious eye injury, which partially blinded her for life. It never held her back.
Life on the farm was hard but she loved their horses, Nelly and Buster, as well as Zipper, their terrier. Sometimes her dad would take them for sleigh rides.
During high school, owing also to difficult financial times, Elaine boarded with a family in Calmar, taking care of the children. A perk was that the family owned the theatre and Elaine saw all the new movies for free.
In 1947, after graduation, Elaine got a full-time job at Penney’s in Decorah, Iowa. She (and sister Shirley) lived on Center Avenue apartment (on the flat) in Mabel White’s Decorah house. The young workers would walk to work in town in high heels, even in snow and ice. She won the first Miss Decorah pageant in 1951.
Elaine met her future husband, Ed Halse, at a wedding in 1949. Ed and Elaine shared a love of dance and spent many evenings twirling the floors. They married on March 2, 1952, at the Calmar Lutheran Church and honeymooned in New Orleans, after driving many miles in their new Ford.
Once married, they settled in an apartment in Decorah on Water Street. Elaine continued to work at Penney’s and Ed farmed on the family farm north of Decorah (now Seed Savers). Ed was drafted into the U.S. Army and eventually they were stationed at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska.
After discharge, the family (including infant son) embarked on an epic drive down the Alaska Highway in their 1950 Buick, returning to Decorah where Ed started a construction business and they raised a family. After Ed died in 1973, Elaine returned to work and became manager of the Ben Franklin store.
She eventually met Stephen Courtney of Decorah and they remained partners until Steve passed away in 2004.
Despite hardships through her life, Elaine never complained. She loved beating us at rummy, butterscotch malts, watching the birds at her feeder, and walks on Trout Run Trail. She was invariably described by all who met her as sweet, kind and gentle. She will be forever and greatly missed.
Elaine is survived by her three children: Ron (Kaki Pierson) of Mendham, New Jersey; Nancy (Marvin) Dietzenbach and Patty (Kevin) Ellingson of Decorah; sibling Shirley Hanson of Decorah; Grandchildren: Dana (Brent) Roske of West Des Moines; Arren (Gelareh) Ellingson, of Issaquah, Washington; Lucy Elaine Halse of Carmel Valley, California; Kate (Kedar) Halse of Cleveland Heights, Ohio; and Henry (Angela) Halse of Las Cruces, New Mexico and great grandchild, Marina Roske. She is also survived by her Courtney children: Steve (Marilyn), Jim (Lynn) Courtney, Janet (John) Martinson, Lori (Jon) Dahle-Melsaether, John, and Eric (Tonia) as well as sisters in law Lois Schroeder and Christine Kolaas.
She was preceded in death by: her parents Arnold and Thelma, her siblings Kenneth Kolaas, Rita Groth, and John Kolaas as well as Steve Courtney and Joseph Courtney; father and mother in law Ralph and Maggie Halse; and also brothers in law Thomas Halse, Karl Hanson, Roger Halse, Ron Schroeder, Forest Myers, and Keith Groth and sisters in law Dorothy Halse, Grayce Halse, and Margaret Myers.
In terms of memorials, please perform an act of kindness or have a smile. Contributions to Hauge Lutheran Church would be appreciated.
Burr Oak Cemetery
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
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