Ruth Iola Elie

Ruth Iola(née Lee) Elie of Champlin died, age 96, on September 1, 2022. Preceded in death by her husband Allard Norell Elie, Son Tedd Elie, Parents Mano & Olive (Peterson) Lee of Alexandria, and 5 siblings: Norman, Marvin, Wayne, Delores & Arlane. She is survived by her son Tom Elie, daughters Barbara Elie & Beth Hammer, DIL Victoria Wolden Elie, and SIL Kevin Hammer. She leaves 4 adoring Elie grandsons: Troy, Ryan, Jonathan & Darren, and 4 devoted Hammer grandchildren: Robert, Jeremy, Kathryn & Rachel. She loved her 8 grandchildren dearly. Ruthie has 12 Elie great-grandchildren and a myriad of nieces and nephews whom she loved and loved her dearly. Ruthie Iola Lee was raised on her parents farm in Alexandria, Minnesota. During her formative years she was educated in a one-room schoolhouse not far from the lilac-lined road to their family farm - where she learned not only the 3 "R"'s but a lifelong sense of community and service. She was friends with her school teacher. Their family farm was a friendly gathering place. The family worked hard; harvesting their crops, canning fruits and vegetables from their bountiful gardens, storing for the winter in their below ground cellar. During the Great Depression on the farm, there was always food on the table and her parents shared that bounty with those less fortunate. Over the years the family's early transport included a horse & buggy, cutter, and a car with a rumble seat, and later the joys of the combustible engine replacing horses and donkeys for harvesting with tractors and combines. Her Dad's pride and joy, a modern boat sized Oldsmobile - always polished. At 14, she and her sister Dolores followed the exciting tradition of rural families, by sending their teenagers to "town" to live all week long in the the boarding houses above the local shops on Main Street. The two sisters had a birds eye view of their high school football field! Ruthie graduated from the downtown Central High School in Alexandria After graduation at 18 she hugged her parents and eagerly took the train to "The Cities" of Minneapolis-St.Paul where she shared a house with several other girls. She was keen on city life, jumping on the streetcar to her job at Sears Roebuck & Co where she had scored a position as an Assistant Buyer in Housewares, which was perfect for her strong aesthetic sensibilities. This young woman adventurer had the life she wanted, (away from a hard farm life) with one exception: she wanted to be a MRS.! She knew she must find a good man, who mirrored the Christian values her parents had taught her, someone kind, like her father. She dated several men from her church, The Minneapolis Gospel Tabernacle, and there he was, the president of the church youth group, "Christ's Ambassadors", Al Elie of St Louis Park, MN. Tall & handsome, patient and kindhearted, they married in May 1946, a week before her 20th birthday! They decided not to have children for 5 years, enjoying those years as a couple, so that when their son Thomas Gregory arrived they were ready. They settled in Bloomington, then Burnsville, raising their 4 children, and back to Bloomington where they built their dream house. They were founding members of Bloomington Assembly of God, later Cedar Valley Church where they had many longtime friends. Ruthie enjoyed her life; her husband, her children and her many friends were important to her. She was capable, confident, beautiful and very social, always observant. She was generous and compassionate. In later life she would ask, "Where is my beautiful husband"? Her love for God caused her to embrace Christian values which were exemplified in her life. At 96, she was looking forward to her eternal home, and now she is where she belongs, together again with her beautiful husband. Memorial service Sept. //://pm, Washburn-McReavy 5000 West 50th & Highway 100, Edina, MN 55436, Memorials to Oasis World Ministries Oasisworldministries.org

Tributes

Ruth Iola Elie

May 18, 1926 - September 1, 2022

Tributes

Ruth Iola Elie

May 18, 1926 - September 1, 2022

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