Lois V. Ellgen

Lois Ellgen, 98, of Clear Lake, passed away Sunday, June, 2, 2019, at Good Shepherd Care Center, Mason City.

A funeral service for Lois will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 5, at Zion Lutheran Church, 112 North 4th Street, Clear Lake, with the  Rev. Dr. Pat Hall officiating.  Interment will be held at the Clear Lake Cemetery.

Visitation will be held at the church one hour prior to the funeral service on Wednesday.

Memorials may be given to the Clear Lake Community School Foundation, P.O. Box 227, Clear Lake, IA 50428.

Lois Virginia Perkins Ellgen, daughter of Sina (nee Anderson) and Oren A. Perkins was born July 12, 1920, in her parent’s rural Northwood home in Deer Creek Township, Worth County, Iowa.  She attended a country school and public school in Glenville, Minn.  She graduated from Northwood High School in 1937.  After high school, she graduated from Paul’s School of Hairdressing, in St. Paul, Minn.  Lois married Clifford H. Ellgen on Oct. 20, 1940, at her parent’s rural Northwood home.  Two children, Paul and Patricia, were born to this union.

Lois worked as a beautician in Austin, Minn., until her marriage to Clifford.  After their marriage, Lois and Clifford lived in Carpenter, Iowa.  Clifford was drafted into the United States Navy in April of 1943.  After the war, Lois and Clifford lived briefly in Hampton, Iowa, before moving to Clear Lake in 1947.  Lois worked as a cook at Clear Lake High School from 1960 to 1980.   After their retirements, Lois and Clifford continued to make their home in Clear Lake while spending winters in Texas, Florida, and Arizona.  Lois and Clifford moved into Apple Valley Assisted Living in 2008.

Lois enjoyed cooking, counted cross stitch, travel, sewing, and stamp collecting.  She also loved the time she spent with her grandchildren.  She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church and The Mother’s Study Club.

Lois is survived by a son, Paul Clifford Ellgen and his wife, Katherine, Fort Myers, Fla.; daughter, Patricia Lynette Ellgen Burckhalter, Lake Bluff, Ill.; grandchildren, Sarah Ellgen, Honolulu, Hawaii, Clifford Ellgen, Pasadena, Calif., Rebecca Burckhalter, Blacksburg, Va. and Robert Burckhalter and his wife, Angela, Centennial, Colo.; and two great-grandchildren, Hunter Jensen and Thomas Burckhalter.

Lois was preceded in death by Clifford, her husband of 72 years; her parents; two brothers; four sisters; and son-in-law, Thomas Burckhalter.

Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake, was in charge of arrangements.