Lucille Eilenfeldt, 105, passed away on Dec. 6, 2014, at Fairhaven in Whitewater.
Lucille Frances Dollase was born on Sept. 6, 1909, in Fort Atkinson, daughter of Reinhold “Ray” and Wilhelmina “Minnie” (Buening) Dollase.
Lucille graduated from Fort Atkinson High School in 1928 and from the Whitewater Teachers College in 1930. She began her teaching career with a class of 46 first grade students in Evansville. The following two years, 1931-1933, she taught first and second grades in Palmyra. The next few years she worked for the Wisconsin Telephone Company in Fort Atkinson.
On Oct. 22, 1938, Lucille married Carl “Cy” Schaefer and moved to Palmyra.
Lucille resumed teaching kindergarten in Palmyra in the fall of 1945 and while teaching, continued her own education. She received her Bachelors degree from Wisconsin State College–Whitewater in 1959. She retired from teaching in the spring of 1971. “Mrs. Schaefer” kept a list of the names of all of her students, totaling 979 kindergarteners and 1,367 students in all.
Lucille was an active member of Palmyra United Methodist Church. She volunteered in many capacities for the church, including as a member of the church board and as Sunday school superintendent and teacher.
After Cy died and she had retired from teaching, she served two terms on the Palmyra-Eagle School Board.
On June 12, 1976, Lucille married Walter Eilenfeldt. They began traveling together with a honeymoon to the Ozarks and continued with travels to Nova Scotia, Alaska, and many places in between. She particularly enjoyed traveling by train to the western part of the United States.
She was known to her great-grandchildren as “Grandma Cookie” as she always had home-baked cookies on hand to serve to guests of all ages. She was still baking Christmas cookies in 2013 at the age of 104.
Lucille is survived by her son, Glen (Bonnie) Schaefer of Fort Atkinson; grandchildren Misty (Alan) Rae of Mount Holly, North Carolina; Tim (Heather) Schaefer of Salem, Oregon; Juliana (Tim) Gebhart of Milwaukee; and Jonathan (Laura) Schaefer of Greenfield; and great-grandchildren Cy, Tré, and Sabrina of Salem, Ore.
Lucille was preceded in death by her parents, both husbands, and sisters Florence Dollase and Hazel Richards.
Funeral services will be Saturday, Dec. 13, at 11:30 a.m. at Palmyra United Methodist Church, preceded by visitation at 10 a.m. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Atkinson.
Memorials to honor Lucille may be made to the Palmyra-Eagle Scholarship and Education Foundation or the Palmyra United Methodist Church in lieu of flowers.
Haase Lockwood & Associates Funeral Homes and Crematory of Palmyra is assisting the family. For online guest registry, visit www.haaselockwoodfhs.com
