ELSIE SAILER
GARRISON - Elsie Sailer, 92, Garrison, died July 3, 2009, in the Garrison Hospital. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Garrison. Burial will be in Stanton City Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Monday at Thompson Funeral Home, Garrison.
Elsa Suzanne Isaak was born Jan. 7, 1917, to David and Rose Isaak of rural Hazen. Being the oldest of 11 children, she worked side by side with her father in the field. He always told her "she worked better then most men." She went to country school until sixth grade, when she stayed home to help on the farm. On Jan. 25, 1935, she married Tobias Sailer. They lived with Elsie's parents for awhile until moving to a farmhouse where they had the first of 15 children, Glen. Through the years, they lived on several farmsteads around Stanton and Hazen. In 1946, they moved to Stanton where Elsie ran a restaurant with her daughter, Joan. In 1954, they moved to Pick City. Elsie kept busy raising her children and always had a beautiful garden and did a lot of canning.
In 1965, Elsie got her driver's license and went to work at the Hazen Hospital where she worked as a nurse's aide for 17 years. She also was a volunteer for the ambulance service and became an EMT. She was jokingly called "Dr. Sailer." In Pick City, the people would come to Elsie for medical care or medical advice, and on one occasion helped deliver twins. She retired in 1981. Elsie moved into an apartment in Stanton in 1982 following the passing of her husband. In 1992, she moved to Garrison and lived at Quinco Apartments until 2006 when she moved into the McLean Manor. At the time of her death, she lived at the Garrison Nursing Facility. Elsie loved music and enjoyed just being around her family's laughter. She spent countless hours crocheting dish cloths, pot holders and doing word search. Elsie loved God - first thing in the morning and last thing at night she would read her bible and prayer book.
Elsie is survived by nine sons, Glen (Merlin), Stanton, Jim (Marilyn) and Stanley, all of Pick City, Willis (Carol), Port Orchard, Wash., Jake (Janet), Garrison, Perry (Dona), Vancouver, Wash., Bruce (Marilyn) and Lee (Coleen), all of Washburn, and Tom (Cindy), Hazen; four daughters, Joan (Joe) McCloud, Judy (Joe) Proulx and LaVonne (Dale) Evenson, all of Garrison, and Yvonne (Monty) Steifel, Pick City; three brothers, Elmer (Ann), The Dalles, Ore., Armond (Violet), Hazen, Walter, Pick City; three sisters, Lorentina Weisz and Hildegard Wallender, both of Hazen, and Jeanette Zeller, Spokane, Wash.; 38 grandchildren; 47 great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren.
Elsie had a special extended family that included the staff at the Garrison Hospital and Hospice Care.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Othmer Isaak; her sisters, Gertrude Zeimann, Selma Unterseher and Delores Isaak; her husband, Tobias; and her sons, Robert and Tommy.
~Source: The Bismarck Tribune, July 5, 2009
~Submitted by one of her sons, Stanley Sailer.
