Eleanor Martha Dusek
1930 - 2010

Eleanor (Delzer) Dusek, 79, of Whitefish, MT died Tuesday, April 20, 2010, at Colonial Manor of Whitefish of natural causes. Graveside services were held on Monday, April 26, 2010, at Glacier Memorial Gardens at Kalispell, MT with the Reverend James B. Maxwell of St. Peter Lutheran Church of Whitefish presiding.

Eleanor was born October 4, 1930, to Gustave and Emma (Grochow) Delzer on the family farm near Clifton, ND in Pierce County. Soon after the family moved to another farm nearby. She attended first and second grades at Clifton country school. Her parents then moved to the Aylmer store in 1938 where they lived and operated the store until they bought their original farm in 1940. She attended her third through eighth grades at White Township School. She attended 9th and 10th grades at Anamoose High School at Anamoose, ND. Being the eldest child, she was then taken out of school to help run the family farm. During a slack time on the farm, she worked at the Empress Cafe in Drake, ND. She married Robert L. Dusek on October 7, 1948 at Rugby, ND. They resided in Aylmer, ND. Six children were born to this union. She worked outside the home on and off while raising her children. Jobs included driving a school bus at White Township School and working at Albrecht’s Grocery Store and
Wohlʼs Meat Market in Anamoose. Her employer at Albrechtʼs Grocery Store paid for her to attend a Dale Carnegie Course in public speaking because she was very shy.

Her husband, Robert, worked for the Great Northern Railroad and was transferred to New Rockford, ND in 1965. The family followed. Eleanor worked in a Swift turkey processing plant and later as a cook at Wonder Lanes Bowling Alley. Robert bid on a job for the railroad in Whitefish, MT and obtained it. The family moved in 1969. Eleanor worked various jobs there including housekeeper at The Cadillac Hotel, waitress at Sally’s Cafe, and she began as supervisor of housekeeping at Colonial Manor Nursing Home in 1974. She worked there for five years.

She was a member of St. Peter Lutheran Church of Whitefish. She loved hunting and fishing. Favorite pastimes included crossword puzzles and playing hand-held computer games. She especially loved playing bingo. One of the highlights of her life was visiting her daughter, Dianna, and family in Germany where her son-in-law was stationed in the U.S. Army. She also made a trip to Ft. Riley, KS to visit her daughter, Penny, who was stationed there in the U.S. Army.

Her husband, Robert, died in 1997 with cancer. Two years later her son, Gary, also died from cancer. She traveled to Seattle, WA to visit him before he passed on. She had a tough battle trying to deal with these deaths.

She developed a staph infection in her right hip and right knee in October of 2003. Because of the infection, her artificial hip and artificial knee had to be removed. Another hip replacement surgery was unsuccessful; it also became infected. She spent many months in and out of the hospital with various surgeries and staph infections. Her children moved her to Riverside Assisted Living in Whitefish on March 31, 2004. She grew to love her new apartment and considered all the residents and staff at Riverside her family. She was moved to Colonial Manor in Whitefish in April of 2008 because she was needing more nursing care. Over time she lost her sight in one of her eyes, and in the fall of 2009 she lost the sight in her other eye. She was a trooper and continued to laugh and joke with everyone in spite of her blindness.

Survivors include her children: Darrel Dusek (April) of Libby, MT, Charlotte Henne of Aurora, IL, Diana Neugebauer (Guy) of Moorcroft, WY, Beverly Dusek of Whitefish, MT, and Penny Black of Lynnwood, WA; twelve grandchildren: Rhonda (Verlin) Woehl, Troy (Gloria) Dusek, Jonathan (Mirna) Dusek, Erin (Cody) Lozier; Tracy, Jessie (Tamara), Jason, and Jamie Henne; Robert (Lynann) Taylor; Shawn Dusek; Amanda Dusek; and James Black; sixteen great grandchildren: Kaitlyn and Brandon Woehl; Morgan and Nina Henne; Sierra Vahl, Tyree Salmon, Trevion and Nevaeh Johnson; Brittany and Max Henne; Alexandra and Mason Taylor; Stephanie, Jeshua, and Emily Rose Dusek; Aiden Dusek; and Trevor Jason Dusek who is due to be born in May 2010; two step granddaughters: Cindy (Rick) Hill and Tracey (Geoff) Bennett; seven step great grandchildren: Sara and Matthew Bennett; Ryan “Tanner" and Logan Hill; Benjamin Yettaw; and Corinna and Eliya Pantoja; four sisters, Luella Grossman of Glenburn, ND, Berniece Miller of Manfred, ND, Geraldine (Donald) Murschel of Hazen, ND, and Betty (Ervin) Eggers of Bismarck, ND; three brothers: Eugene (Barb) and Gerald (Connie) Delzer, both of Minot, ND, and Jerome Delzer of Whitefish, MT; and many nieces, nephews and cousins, too numerous to mention.

Preceding her in death were: her parents; her husband, Robert, on July 11, 1997; son, Gary, on April 13, 1999; three sisters, Irene, Lucille, and a baby girl who died at birth; and a brother, Marvin in 2006.

Surviving Pneumonia

My Grandmother, Eleanor Martha Delzer Dusek, once told me this story.
The first child of her parents, Gus and Emma, was Irene Delzer.  She caught pneumonia and ended up dying at a very young age.  "Then I was the next born," Eleanor would say. "I also caught pneumonia, but survived."  The third child born to her parents was Lucille Delzer.  She also caught pneumonia and died at a very young age.  Eleanor's husband, Robert Dusek, would always say, "It was just my luck that you had to be the one who survived!"

Train Whistle
I was raking with the horses one day by the Burt Caulkins' bridge.  A train came along and I waved at the men on the train.  They blew the whistle and the horses took off and I put the rake down and fell off backwards.  -Eleanor Delzer Dusek

Water Well
One of the chores that I and Luella had was to pump water for the cattle in the winter time.  We wore jeans but still it got mighty cold standing and pumping the water by hand until the cows got their fill.  So I had an idea, we would put stones in the pocket of our jeans and when we thought the cows had enough to drink we would throw the stones at them to get them to leave.  -Eleanor Delzer Dusek

1. What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?
Eleanor Martha Delzer Dusek
Martha was my aunt’s name.
My husband called me “Blondie”.
“My birthday is October 4th. They gave me a nickname, especially if I went into a casino. They called me ‘10-4’”.


2. When and where were you born?
October 4th, 1930.
“Inside my mother” (laughs) “Harvey, North Dakota”

3. How did your family come to live there?
XXX


4.Were there other family members in the area? Who?
“We had the farm, right between Anamoose and Harvey. The folks had the farm. That’s where we were born and raised.”

5. What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?
Not too much electricity. They always managed with the light and everything. It depends upon what we were doing. They had little lights, like small mantle lights.


6. Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
I know there used to be. Man! When the boys had that place built on the farm, and there was certain things that I wanted. Because I said that I wanted them as a keepsake. Then somebody spoke up and said that they were hers. That was my brother’s girlfriend. They were some remembrances. Like one thing I wanted which we used a lot was a, I don’t even know what they call them. A light that’s like on a stand with two mantles.

7. What is your earliest childhood memory?
Well, down on the farm, what I remember the most, was all of us kids gathered up by the well. We pumped water (for the cattle) . Taking turns pumping water. And when it came to my cattle… We all wore jeans. I had little stones in mine. And when it looked like they drank too much, I started throwing stones. (So as to scare away the cattle, and move on to get water for the rest.)

8. Describe the personalities of your family members.
XXX


9. What kind of games did you play growing up?
“A lot of card games and a lot of games like tag, you know.”


10. What was your favorite toy and why?
(laughs) “My husband.”


11. What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?
“I loved it when our whole family got together on the farm, and we played baseball. I just loved that.”

12. Did you have family chores? What were they?
“My other jobs were out in the field plowing with four horses and planting seed with four horses.”
Did you have a least favorite?
“Well, kinda when I did the hay field. We lived close to the railroad track. And anyway, I was out there and raking hay, and here came the service train. They saw me out there and they tooted and tooted. I went and made sure that the back part of the hay deal was up and locked, and I rolled off. So I made it away from the train. Yeah, there’s a lot of funny things that would happen.”

13. Did you receive an allowance? How much?
“Well, it wasn’t too much of an allowance. But we’d get maybe a dime or a quarter when the folks went in and bought groceries where we could spend on our selves.”
Did you save your money or spend it?
“Both. Because some of the things we liked was more. So we’d stick it in our pocket until we had more.”

14. What was school like for you as a child?
“I don’t know, it was good. There really isn’t anything I’d really have to blame or condemn or anything, but I liked school.”
What were your best and worst subjects?
“History was my worst. Yeah, trying to remember all these countries and…”
What grades did you attend?
“High school.”



15. What school activities and sports did you participate in?
“I myself as a gal, I just loved to play baseball, and whenever our family got together on the farm I’d always tell, ‘Let’s all get together and play baseball’, and they liked it too, so it made me happy.”


16. Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles?
“Oh, when I was younger? Just if they were washed and combed I guess. Yeah, the hairstyles they make with. Now like the kids always tell me, ‘Mom when you get your hair done, tell ‘em take a pick and pick ‘em up in the middle so they stand up a little bit.’ To me, I don’t know, ‘cause I haven’t seen a picture of my face for years and years. Yeah, I can’t see. So it’s really something to think about.”


17. Did you have any childhood heroes?
“Oh, yeah. To name them offhand, I can’t. I had different ones in different stories.”


18. What were your favorite songs and music?
“Music? When it came to music, I wanted a peppy band. Because I loved accordion music especially, and what I liked to dance was, uh, like, polkas and peppy other songs like “In the Mood’ and different things like that. I loved to dance.”

19. Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?
XXX

20. What was your religion growing up before you attended the Lutheran Church?
“Presbyterian. That was between the two religions in the family.”
Your mother and father were both Presbyterian?
“Yeah, they both were.”

21. Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper? What paper? Date?
“You mean for good or bad. Well, that’s a deep subject. The only thing I can think of. If I can remember it all now. But. Our neighbor. He always teased me all the time. And his first name was Joe VanHam. That’s another thing. We had Joe VanHam living on one side of us and Joe Vorman living on the other side. And Joe VanHam was a cop--a policeman. And Joe Vorman was postmaster. And they always would tease me about saying, ‘Hey Joe.’ Yeah, it’s really something.”
Were you ever in a newspaper?
“I guess I did when the folks took pictures when we were out in the field and stuff, but nothing really amusing.”

22. Who were your friends when you were growing up?
“To me, everybody was my friend, especially those who came over and played softball and stuff like that.”

23. What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?
XXX


24. Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family?
“We always sat around the table for breakfast and for dinner, and in the evening was supper. The morning one was our usual eggs and pancakes and bacon and stuff like that. Then at noon, we’d have a bigger meal which consisted of a lot of different things. Then in the evening we’d have a smaller meal. My mother used to always say, ‘Eleanor, we got to eat less in the evening because our stomachs want to slow down a little bit too and rest.’”
“[The main meal of the day] was the meal that was kind of predictable because, especially living on the farm, it depends upon what we were all doing, but I’d say the main meal was the evening meal. [We’d have] mashed potatoes, gravy, meat, vegetables, and soup, and deserts.”
What were your favorite foods?
“I wish I knew, because in those days, I weighed quite a bit. [laughs] And now my weights keeps backing up all the time. I went back to 112 [pounds] now. But, it’s just that I can’t put on weight. My dad would go out and make pork chops and stuff on the fireplace. Stuff like that always tasted so good.”


25. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
“We used to invite some of our friends over and then we would usually end up out in the yard playing softball, otherwise card games.”


26. How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
XXX

27. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
“My dad’s mother. She went blind, and she lived with Dad and Mom when I was living at home yet. That was awful. I just couldn’t get over that, you know, because to me that was young yet. I remember she was born near Clifton. Our family wasn‘t too far from there either.”

28. What do you know about your family surname?
XXX

29. Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather?
XXX

30. What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
“The first three children that were born in my family had pneumonia. My husband would say, ‘yeah, the oldest one, she died in a few days, and the youngest one, well, she died in a few weeks. Eleanor, the middle one, just my luck, she’s still living!’ He would always come up with things like that. He was always joking.”





31. Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
XXX

32. Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members? What were your favorite recipes to prepare?
“I have a book full.”
Any favorites that your mother would make?
“One thing I just loved that she made, that’s… I don’t know if you heard… Anyway, she used to make… You remember kids? When mom used to make pig-in-a-blankets? Oh, I tell you, that was something that was so good. I used to make it too. The whole family, we kinda passed down recipes.”

Home-made dumplings, pickled pike, head cheese,


33. Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?
XXX

34. Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?
“Well, something that was passed down not long ago… was church. And I’m telling you, I could not get over it, and I still can’t get over it. Because, well, my daughter [Beverly], she always takes care of me. Me knowing, I don’t think she went to church that much, but now when she’s over here [nursing home], he [pastor] goes and says a prayer for her. Is everybody listening? The pastor says a prayer for Bev. I get communion. She gets communion. She’s right in the church with me in here. It makes me happy.”

35. What was the full name and/or nickname of your parents?
“[My father’s] right name was Gustave. G-u-s-t-a-v-e. They called him Gust.”
Your husband called you “Blondie”. Did you have any nicknames for him?
[laughs] “Hohoho.” [laughs] [brings up the story about the three sisters with pneumonia]


36. When and how did you meet your spouse?
“Isn’t that something to remember? I think it was at a dance, I think.”



37. What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?
“He came and knelt down in front of me once at a dance and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ It‘s really something when you think back to those days.”


38. Where and when did you get married?
XXX

39. What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?
“Yeah, Eleanor said, ‘I do.’”

40. How would you describe your spouse? What did you admire most about him?
“Well, he seemed to be a real good worker, and knew a lot about a lot of different things, as far as working and… and knowing his two sisters and two brothers. That was something to, and I mean uh, and living not too far away.”

41. What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
“Well to me, I think we both loved one another. Real well.”


****42. How did you find out your were going to be a parent for the first time?
[laughs] “The reason I’m laughing, I was sitting here taking a drink and thinking, ‘What could I think about when I was a parent with Darrel, and he comes out with, ‘Are you a mind reader, Honey?’ Yeah, it was great, our marriage.”****

43. Why did you choose your children's names?


44. What was your proudest moment as a parent?


45. What did your family enjoy doing together?


46. You used to work in this building?
“That isn’t the first job… I ended up where I [helped] opened up this place, the Colonial Manor and 500 rooms, patient rooms [incorrect-probably 40 rooms]. That’s what I did years ago. Then it ended up here, I’m in it. And while I worked in here, I’ve still got to pay for it.”


47. If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?


48. Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?
“To love your wife or husband, and having money between you, and getting along with what to do with it, and living together.”


49. What accomplishments were you the most proud of?


50. What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?
“How good I was. [laughs] No, one thing about us. I think my husband and I, we did very good together.”


51. Do you have a favorite bible verse or passage? What is it?
“Yes, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me lay down in green pastures.”


52. Do you have any phrases or sayings that you would always use? What are they?
“Well, when the whole gang was there, the happy gang, I’d say, [sings] ‘Hail, hail, the gang’s all here!’”

53. Is there anything that you have always wanted to do, but haven’t?
Go to Hawaii.

54. What pets have you had?


55. Do you have any health problems that are considered hereditary in nature?
“Oh, gosh! [Couldn’t think of any.]


56. If you served in the military, when and where did you serve and what were your duties?


57. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
“Well, the only thing I could think of right now, is I guess I… the only thing I was thinking of was getting married and having a family of my own.”


58. What was your first job?
“When I first kinda went out working away from home… I worked… It was called Wohl’s Meat Market in Anamoose. Wohl’s… W-o-h-l-s. In there I helped cut up all kinds of meat and stuff. Then they got groceries in there to. But uh, I loved working in there. That’s where I made different kinds of bologna, it was called, and summer sausage. Yeah, I used to make all different kinds of things, and then I would take the recipe home, back to the farm, and we’d do it back there. I got that recipe, used to make bologna, and he [Rudy Wohl] used to make a good summer sausage too. Yeah, it’s really something.”


59. What wise advise would you give a grandchild on their wedding day?
“Honey, make sure that you get all your misunderstandings right, so you get along good together the rest of your life because that’s going to be a long time.”


60. Did you have a honeymoon?
“Well, I think mine was a syrup-moon! Yeah, I had a honeymoon.”
Where did you go?
“I think we got partway up to the moon!”

61. Did your family move often and if so where and what time periods?


63. What is your fondest memory?
“Having my children coming and seeing me. I think that is so wonderful. I don’t dislike it in here, but if I have to be, I have to be.”



“Because right now, whenever I open my mouth and talk to Bev, she agrees all the time, because I want her to take care of me, being I can’t recall everything. One thing I never told everybody, but I’ll tell us in here now. There are times when I sit here, where I’m thinking and don’t know what I’m thinking about. So that’s why I’m so happy I have Bev so close to me too. I usually mention everything that I think she should know, and let her know. Even when she goes to the doctor or whatever and takes me with, she don’t even leave me know if it’s good or bad. And once in a while, because I know I gotta go back. It’s really something. But the first thing on our list. I don’t know if you noticed. Anyway they dish out these lists, and then you put them up and talk about them and answer them. The first thing is kinda hard to repeat is everything about how your life went, because you had good days and bad days. But like I say, ‘I can’t say anything about me and my family and anyway they all seem to hit the record straight. They all seemed to do real good.’”

What is your favorite Christmas song?
“Silent Night is one of them.”
[All sing silent night- Eleanor, Darrel, Beverly, Amanda, Jon, Mirna, and Aiden Dusek]
“And you all have a… [sings] Happy New Year to you!”
“And thank you everybody for keeping in touch with me and talking with me. It makes my time go so much faster. I love you all.”
730

Stories, See notes:

Lived in:
Aylmer, North Dakota from 1948 to 1965
Moved to New Rockford, North Dakota 1965
Moved to Whitefish, Montana 7 Aug 1969
Moved to Park Ave 25 Oct 1969
Moved to 550 Pine Ave 25 Jul 197047

Eleanor got a Moose in 1977 and 1988.47

Eleanor worked at colonial Manor from 1974 to 1978.47

Eleanore is spelled with an “e” at the end on her birth certificate.