Florence Gjordis Ellingsen

Florence Gjordis Ellingsen Dec/2010 Florence Gjordis Ellingsen (Flo), age 96, passed away on December 29, 2010 at her home in Walker at Westwood Ridge in West St. Paul, Minnesota. She is now in the company of our other family members who have gone before her. Flo was born May 25, 1914 in Hayfield, Dodge County, Minnesota, the seventh of nine children born to Finn Ellingsen and Elise Wilson. Both families were pioneer families in Dodge County, where her father Finn and her grandfather Mads Ellingsen operated the General store in the town of Oslo. The Ellingsen family moved to Minneapolis when Flo was 15. She graduated from South High School in 1932, where she was active in basketball and tennis. After high school Flo attended the Minneapolis School of Art, now the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, where she designed costumes for the Minneapolis Aquatennial. After Flos graduation from art school, she became enthralled with flying and helped her brother-in-law Al Brandt, a pioneer aviator, with his Flight Schools. She trained at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, home of the Womens Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), where licensed female pilots were trained to fly military aircraft, ferrying them from factory to shipping point, and occasionally flying damaged planes back for repair. Following Flos avaition career, she joined Nu-Line Industries, now TRW, in Minneapolis as scheduler and expediter for over 10 years. Flo was an accomplished poet and had two of her poetry books published. She also was invited to include many of her poems in several prestigious poetry books. Writing gave her great-pleasure, but she felt poetry was the most satisfying for her. Flo is survived by her youngest brother Arthur Ellingsen of Minneapolis, and many loving nieces and nephews throughout the country. She was preceded in death by her parents, her four sisters Hannah Ellingsen, Mary Alice Brandt, Edith Garner, Marge Van Horssen; and her three brothers Phil, Ralph and Bill Ellingsen. Flo and her siblings spent many happy weekends fishing and canoeing in their native Minnesota. As Flo herself said, “she was born to fish” Flo was a remarkable woman and she will be deeply missed. The family wishes to extend heartfelt thanks to her caregivers from Westwood Ridge and Hospice of Minnesota for their compassionate care. A special acknowledgment in given to grand-niece Lael Abbott for her unwavering devotion to Flo in her final months. A memorial service is planned in the Spring when Flo will be interred in the Ellingsen Family Burial Plot at West St. Olaf Lutheran Church Cemetery in Dodge County.