Florence Ellwein

Florence D. Ellwein, 81, of Great Falls, a homemaker, died on Sunday, December 11, 2011of natural causes at her home.A Funeral Liturgy will be held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. with a reception to follow at the church. Burial will be held in Fort Harrison V.A. Cemetery at a later date. Schnider Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Florence was born August 10, 1930 in Baker, N.D. At the age of five, her family moved to the Yakima valley in Washington, where she lived until her marriage on November 27,1947 to the most handsome sailor/boxer in the whole country, Hubert Ellwein. They opened a restaurant in Prosser and operated a chicken and raspberry farm for a short while. In 60 years of marriage Mom moved with her handsome man six times, each time making a home for her family. Her first move was to a farm northeast of Conrad where she learned to drive tractor, bale hay, milk cows, deliver piglets and any other jobs required on a small farm. She was the bookkeeper for the Pioneer School. While on the farm, Florence taught herself to reupholster furniture. She did such a professional job on her own furniture that people asked her to reupholster theirs. Thus began the Ellwein Upholstering business for 35 years. Tiber dam south of Chester was her next move. Keeping busy with upholstering jobs, Florence also was active with her daughter's school activities chaperoning many different events. She became a member of St. Mary's alter society and served as the president for several years. In 1969, Dad's job took them to Great Falls where Florence finally got to live in town. After two short years of enjoying city life Mom was whisked off to the Beartooth Game Range at Holter Lake. Here she continued upholstering and specialized her business in boat tarp and window repair. Mom learned to put up with the wildlife of the game range, such as black bears standing on their hind legs peering through the sliding glass door as she made pies. Mom became the champion fisherman on the lake. She was always the one to catch the first fish and generally caught the most. The only thing Mom could not master while living on the game range for eighteen years was eating the wild meat. When Dad retired Mom found herself living on Holter Lake. It was here that many of her carpentry skills and math figuring abilities became apparent when they completely remodeled and built on to their home. Mom's green thumb really stood out at lakeside, boaters came in close to see all the many different flowers in bloom. During the winter months Mom kept busy sewing quilts for all the grandkids, embroidering towels, dish cloths, knitting and crocheting. Her hands always kept busy. After 10 years on Holter Lake, Mom and Dad moved back into Great Falls due to Dad's failing health. Mom once again put her carpentry skills and math abilities to work remodeling their home. She continued raising her beautiful flowers and perfecting her pies, homemade breads and cinnamon rolls, sour cream twists, homemade noodles and German dishes. In August of 2010, Mom made her final move into a one level condominium because of ill health. Here she kept busy doing word puzzle books, managing her finances and investments (watching the Dow and Nasdaq) enjoying her great-grandchildren and visitors. Survivors include her three daughters, Diane Ellie Hamilton of Great Falls, Ann (Barry) VanDessel of Joplin, Janice (Larry) Elings of Dupuyer; her brother Daniel Axtman of Redding, CA; six grandchildren, Travis Elings, Heather Nimmick, Kelly McAvoy, Cody Elings, Ryan VanDessel and B.J. Hamilton; ten great-grandchildren, Derek, Brayden, Ashlin, Peyton, Elly, Will, Taylor, Raya, Jess and Brenden. Florence was preceded in death by her husband, Hubert Ellwein in 2007; a sister, Catherine Harrington; a brother, Linus Axtman; son-in-law, Bill Hamilton and two nephews.Donations in Mom's memory are suggested to Holy Spirit Catholic Church building fund 201 44th St. S., Great Falls, MT 59405 or the Veteran's Liberty House, P.O. Box 81, Fort Harrison, Montana 59636. We're going to miss you Mom. Thanks for giving us so much!