Eleanor Violet Wokosin, age 89, of Oshkosh, passed away on September 20, 2016. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 14, 1927, the daughter of Horace and Violet (Elliott) Chapman. Eleanor married Elmer Harvey Wokosin on June 1, 1946, at Grace Evangelical and United Brethren Church in Chicago, Illinois by the Reverend Edgar Ayer, the bride's uncle. Together they have made Oshkosh their home for the past 69 years.
Eleanor graduated from Lucy Flower High School in Chicago. She then went to work for a bank in downtown Chicago and also held a part-time secondary job clerking at a neighborhood drugstore where she met Elmer who was in Chicago pending being discharged from the Army after WWII. After they were married, Elmer brought his bride to Oshkosh and built her a brick home. Eleanor became involved in her children's numerous school activities and taught Sunday School for a number of years at Peace Lutheran Church. After their children were older, Eleanor then went to work at SNC and furthered her interest in helping others by becoming a Nurses' Assistant through Mercy Hospital Nursing Program. She was employed at Bethel Home, Evergreen Manor and finally spent numerous years employed with the Visiting Nurses of Oshkosh.
She further volunteered her time and talents through the Red Cross Volunteer Program. She and Elmer assisted with various charity projects through their affiliations with the Masonic Temple activities. Eleanor was the one who named the Masonic Ladies Group, The Noble Ladies. They loved to travel to visit their daughter in California and their son on the west side of Wisconsin. She and Elmer had been on numerous cruises to the Caribbean and Alaska. Both were lifetime members of the Oshkosh Museum Auxiliary. Eleanor was currently a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Oshkosh.
Eleanor's family consisted of her husband Elmer, now deceased; her son, Daniel and his wife, Carolyn; and her daughter Deborah and her husband, David Traugott. She had been grandmother and great grandmother to Ronald and wife Kathy Sobek and their children, Jackie, Kevin and Christine and granddaughter Connie and husband Rob Frazier. Eleanor was the oldest sibling to Thomas and Patricia, who both are deceased; and to Edward Chapman and wife, Barbara, who currently live in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and David Chapman and wife, Jan reside in Channahon, Illinois. Eleanor has numerous nieces and nephews from her siblings, as well as from her Wokosin family. She also had an extended family of Wokosin's as she was the last remaining Aunt. Her brothers and sisters in law are all deceased. They were as follows: Art and Emma Ziebell, Wally and Marie Wokosin, Hilda and Phil Miller, Frieda and Fritz Lentz, Fredrick and Alma Wokosin, Erna and Arthur Juedes, Edward and Tress Wokosin , Art and Florence Wokosin and June and Bill Fenrich.
Eleanor has been a resident of Bethel Home for the past two years. She enjoyed her time with the Bethel staff who treated her with the utmost respect. Her time on this earth will be sorely missed. Eleanor's celebration of her life will take place on Monday, September 26, 2016, at St. John Lutheran Church, 808 North Main Street, Oshkosh. There will be a greeting from 12:00 Noon until the hour of the service at 2:00 p.m. Interment will take place after the service at Lake View Memorial Park. It is a request of Eleanor to donate your contribution to the Shriner's Children's Hospital of Chicago.