Ellen Louise Watkins Hales, age 91, of Arnolds Park, passed away on Tuesday, November 26th, just 2 weeks shy of her 92nd birthday. She will be dearly missed by her family.
Graveside services will be held at 11:00am., Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer, Iowa. Officiating will be Pastor Ben Unseth of Faith Lutheran Church.
Louise (as we all knew her by) was born 12/8/1932 to Ida (Henderson) and Oscar Watkins in a log cabin near Goodnight, Oklahoma. She had 3 siblings; older brother Louis, younger sister Dorothy, and younger brother James (Bud). They settled in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where she spent her childhood years.
As a young adult, she went to college in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she met and married her husband Vivian “Marion” Hales in 1952. They moved to a farm near Terril and had 2 children, Vickie and Victor.
She worked as a dental assistant and in a jewelry shop before taking on her long-time position at the Terrill School as school board secretary. She later retired and started really enjoying a hobby of quilting. Eventually, she owned a quilt shop in Mesa, Arizona, and shared her passion of quilting with many people. She felt led to come back to Arnolds Park and the Lakes where she enjoyed traveling to see the grandkids playing soccer and participating in dance recitals.
Louise is survived by daughter,Vickie (Bob) McBain; grandchildren, Brett McBain, Rhiannon (Reid) DenHerder, Katie McBain, Levi (Teri) McBain, Lindsay Eagan and Tyler John Ireland; great-grandchildren, Gabriel McBain, Zoey, Kenzie, and Tori DenHerder, Hunter and Madison Eagan, and Ava Ireland. In death, Louise rejoined her parents, brother Louis, ex-husband Marion, and son Victor.
