Ellen M. Rodby

Funeral services for Ellen M. Rodby, 97, was held at 2:00 P.M. Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at the Gorman Funeral Homes - Converse Chapel in Douglas, Wyoming with Pastor John Thomason officiating. A funeral service will be at the United Methodist Church in Aurora, Minnesota on Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 10:30 AM with Pastor Barbara Hegfors officiating. Refreshments will be served at the church following the service. Visitation will be held at Ziemer-Moeglein-Shatava Funeral Home on Tuesday, December 27, 2016 from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Interment will be in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Aurora. Ellen Rodby died Sunday, December 18, 2016 at the Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas. Ellen the youngest of five children was born Thursday, November 20, 1919 on a dairy farm outside Cameron, Wisconsin the daughter of Olaf and Hannah (Lofblad) Amundson. As a young girl she went to a one-room schoolhouse down the road until the eighth grade. She then moved into town with her girlfriend to attend Cameron High School, graduating Salutatorian right behind her friend who was the Valedictorian. After high school she attended a business college and later worked for the government in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She met her husband, Donald Victor Rodby, through the matchmaking efforts of a childhood friend. As a couple they started Rodby’s Jewelry and Gift Store in Aurora, where Ellen served as the bookkeeper and oversaw all the gift ordering. They operated the business for 30 years. They had three daughters and as Ellen and Don raised their girls, she warmly welcomed all the neighborhood kids for after school playtime, Halloween parties, the creation of many play productions, and small circuses. Ellen and Don were very active in the United Methodist Church, where Ellen taught Sunday School, played the piano, and sang in the choir. She enjoyed playing couples’ and women’s bridge. Following Don’s death, at 81, she courageously traveled by herself to Moscow, Russia, to visit her daughter, Dawn, and family in the dead of winter. Around this time, she started spending the winter months with Jean and her family in Wyoming and finally moved there permanently in 2009. There she was very active at the senior center helping in the dining room and substituting for bridge. She also attended the Bible Study there. Later, she attended their Adult Day Care and more recently the Respite Program. She supported and attended the First Southern Baptist Church in Douglas. Ellen was a wonderful mother, grandmother, great grandmother, mother-in-law, and homemaker. She worked tirelessly, passing down a legacy of service to her girls. She loved her family and was always very proud of each one of them. Ellen’s cup was always full and she never complained. Her biggest commitment was to the Lord and to the end she was able to recite The Lord’s Prayer even when she couldn’t verbalize much else. She is survived by her daughters, Jean Elizabeth (Tim) Beaulieu of Douglas and Dawn Victoria (Tim) Patterson of Northfield, Minnesota; grandchildren, Sherri (Kelly) Nielsen of Fargo, North Dakota, Amy Pooley of Douglas, Jenn (Roy) Hansen of Douglas, Holly (Jeremy) Sairsingh of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Laura Patterson of Sock Rapids, Minnesota, David Patterson of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Katherine (Blake) Herbison of Saint Paul, Minnesota; and great grandchildren, Ellinor Sairsingh, Abby and Tyler Nielsen, Hannah and Lauren Pooley, and Beau and Dylan Hansen. Ellen was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Donald Victor Rodby, on November 15, 2000; daughter, Rae Carol Brown; siblings, Henry Amundson, Ada Wetzel, Norma Sandstron, Roy Amundson; and infant sister, Fae Rebecca Amundson. A memorial to the Douglas Senior Citizens’ Center, P.O. Box 192, Douglas, Wyoming 82633 would be appreciated by the family.