Eleanor Gewecke, 92

Eleanor Arlene (Mather) Gewecke was born on January 24, 1925, to Earl and Essie (Archerd) Mather in Madelia, MN. She grew up on her parent’s farm, earning valedictorian from Madelia schools before attending Mankato State College and receiving a two year teaching certificate. She taught school in Comfrey and Springfield, MN. Questioning whether she was really cut out to be a teacher, she decided to make a change and moved to Pipestone to take a job as youth director for the Pipestone Methodist Church. The first Sunday she was in Pipestone, she attended a joint youth event in Jasper and was invited for dinner at the Gewecke home. She became “impressed” with the eldest son Don.
On August 18, 1951, they were united in marriage and lived on the Gewecke Golden Guernsey Dairy farm. They belonged to a monthly couple’s card club, forging lifelong friendships, and were active members of the Jasper United Methodist Church. In 1962, Don and Eleanor left farming and moved to Jasper.
Eleanor was coaxed back into teaching in 1961. She never regretted it, happily teaching sixth grade for 29 years in the Jasper schools. She took night classes and attended summer school to procure her bachelor’s degree in education from General Beadle College (Dakota State University) in Madison, SD. After further schooling, she was awarded her master’s degree from Augustana College in July, 1971, three days before her husband’s fatal car accident which he passed away as a result of on August 12, 1971. Eleanor was always grateful that she had her job, family, friends and faith to sustain her after losing the love of her life just six days before their 20th wedding anniversary.
During her tenure as a teacher, she earned recognition as “Teacher of the Year” before she retired in 1990. Eleanor loved sports, including supporting the Jasper Quartzsiter teams and—later, after the Jasper schools merged with Pipestone–the Arrows. She not only went to home games, but faithfully attended as many out of town games as she could. She received a plaque honoring her as #1 fan.
When the Jasper elementary building closed and was eventually remodeled to serve as an assisted living facility, Eleanor served on the Sunrise board for almost 20 years. She planned and looked forward to spending her later years as a Sunrise resident. That became reality in February of 2014. She deliberately chose a Sunrise room that was just a few doors down the hall from her old classroom, enjoying the same view as she had as a teacher and where she could see Don drive into town after he’d paid a sales call to a local farmer. It was truly her second home and she loved Sunrise.
Upon her retirement from teaching, Eleanor loved to travel, including bus tours, cruises, a trip to Oberammergau, Germany to see the Passion Play, Disney World and Hawaii. She never mastered using a cell phone but loved her Apple computer. She sent her final email the day before she entered the hospital for the last time. She also loved reading, doing crossword puzzles, playing Scrabble, having coffee with her friends and serving on multiple church and community boards.
Eleanor was diagnosed with leukemia in April and passed away on Friday, July 21, 2017, at the Sanford USD Medical Center at the age of 92 years, 5 months, and 27 days.
She is lovingly remembered by her daughters, Pamela (Mark) Johnson of Portage, WI and Janis (Allen) Landa of Sioux Falls, SD; grandchildren, Betsy (Nick Rudnik) Johnson, Peter (Melisa Oro) Johnson, Bailey (Erik) Fossum, Megan Landa, Todd (Jean) Landa & Wade Landa; great-grandchildren, Oliver Johnson and Svea Landa; sister, Beth Norman; brother, Herb (Sue) Mather; sisters-in-law, Jo Gewecke and Jan Gewecke; and many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
She was predeceased by her husband, Don; her parents; sisters-in-law, LuRene and Lillian; and brothers-in-law, Dean, Jack, and Chuck.