In Memory
Eleanor Margaret “Aunt Ellie” Traphagan
- Birth
-
Frontier County, Nebraska, USA
- Death
- 12 Sep 2018 (aged 101)
Sterling, Logan County, Colorado, USA
- Burial
-
Saint Patrick Calvary Cemetery
McCook, Red Willow County, Nebraska
- Plot
- Block 6, Lot 32
STERLING, Colo. — It is with great sadness that the family of Eleanor Margaret Traphagan announces her passing at the age of 101 on Sept. 12, 2018, in Sterling.
Known as “Aunt Ellie” for many, she was born Feb. 17, 1917, in Frontier County, Neb., to John L. and Jane M. (Corcoran) Traphagan. She grew up on a farm near St. Anne Church and graduated from McCook High School, Class of 1934.
Ellie worked during World War II as a clerk for the Railway Freight Office, after which she began her career with the Bureau of Reclamation, working with the Water and Power Resources Service for the lower Missouri Region and the Kansas River Projects. She enjoyed 30 years as an administrative aide and personnel officer, retiring in 1980. After retirement, Ellie lived in McCook and enjoyed all of her family and many friends. She was devoted to caring for her father and two aunts. Ellie regularly played Bingo, enjoyed going to auctions, worked crossword puzzles, and read the McCook Gazette to the very end. She enjoyed shopping and keeping up with the latest fashions. In 2010, she moved to Sterling to be near her nephew, Gregory Stelmach. Ellie was a member of St. Patrick Catholic Church and was a caring sister and devoted aunt to many generations of nieces and nephews.
Preceding her in death were her parents, John and Jane Traphagan; brother, John and his infant daughter, Jan; sisters, Loretta Ruppert, Leona McCracken, Genevieve Anderjaska, Irene Vap, Bernadine Stelmach; and nephew, Leonard Stelmach.
Aunt Ellie, the grand matriarch of the Traphagan Clan, is survived by her nephews, Jack (Rachel) McCracken, Tom Ruppert, Roland (Marilyn) Anderjaska, Douglas (Mary) Vap, Gerald (Sherry) Vap, Dr. J. Gordon (Jeanne) Vap, John T. (Linda) Vap, Gregory (Dannette) Stelmach, and nieces, Sister Barbara McCracken, O.S.B., Marilyn (Bryce) Fornoff, Janice Barber, Kathleen (Dennis) Bauer, Mary Stelmach. Also at last census there are 35 great-nieces and nephews, 65 great-great nieces and nephews, 28 great-great-great nieces and nephews are surviving.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in memory of Eleanor on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018, at 10 a.m., at St. Patrick Catholic Church, McCook, Neb. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery, in McCook.
Herrmann-Jones Funeral Chapel of McCook entrusted with arrangements.
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