Eleanor S. Inness, 93, of Lincoln, Nebraska, passed away December 8, 2019.
Family members include her daughter Donna Inness, Lincoln; sons Jim Inness, Austin, TX, Ron (Chris) Inness, Marietta, GA, Ken (LuAnn) Inness and Mark Inness, all of Lincoln; 9 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Lyle, and 9 siblings.
Memorial Service: 11:00 a.m. Saturday (12-14-19) Roper and Sons Chapel, 4300 ‘O’ Street. Private inurnment in the Danish Cemetery, Plainview, NE.
Memorials to Disabled American Veterans or charity of choice.
Eleanor was born on February 27, 1926 in Plainview, NE to Carl Edward and Thora Kirsten Wilhelmina (Nielsen) Petersen. Eleanor, her six sisters, and three brothers grew up during the Great Depression in a Danish immigrant household. There wasn’t much money, but there was a lot of love, especially among the seven sisters, and they remained close all their lives.
During her senior year of high school, Eleanor met Lyle Inness at the portable roller rink in Plainview. At the age of 17, Eleanor married Lyle in San Diego, California. Lyle had enlisted in the army in December of 1942 and was sent to Europe in the fall of 1944. Eleanor went back to Plainview to await the return of her husband. In February 1945, Lyle was listed as missing in action, and on February 26, Eleanor gave birth to their first child, Jimmy Lyle, not knowing where her husband was; indeed, not even knowing whether she still had a husband. Two months later she received word that Lyle was alive and well, having escaped from imprisonment by the Germans. Jimmy was three months old when he met his father for the first time.
The couple were living in Oakdale when Eleanor gave birth to twins Donna Kay and Ronald Ray on September 9, 1946. The birth of two babies instead of one was quite a shock to her, and she exclaimed, “Oh, we can’t afford two babies!” When the twins were one year old, Eleanor and Lyle moved to Lincoln, where they resided the rest of their lives. On March 10, 1948 Eleanor had a stillborn son, Richard Warren, a grief to her and Lyle for the rest of their lives.
The family were living in a small three-room house when their next son, Kenneth Paul was born on March 23, 1952 during a raging blizzard. By that time the family consisted of three adults (Lyle’s father was living with them), four children and a dog – quite a large family for such a small house. Lyle, with the help of his wife, his father and his father-in-law, spent his evenings and weekends building a new home for his growing family. On February 14, 1958, Eleanor gave birth to her Valentine’s baby, Mark Edward, making the family complete.
Eleanor felt that one of her biggest accomplishments in life was raising her five children. Eleanor and Lyle had a simple but effective policy of parenting: Always back each other’s decisions (at least in front of the children), be consistent, and never make empty promises or threats. While being a “stay-at-home mom” she helped Lyle in his construction business. Eleanor cooked nourishing meals, occasionally accompanied by delicious desserts. Lyle practically refused to eat any pies that she didn’t bake, deeming hers to be the best. Among family favorites were her Danish recipes of sweet and sour red cabbage, rhubarb pudding (Donna’s favorite), and ebelskiver. She sewed her own and her daughter’s clothes, and she was a gifted knitter, crocheter and needleworker.
Eleanor was also very proud of her 70-year marriage to Lyle. He was devoted to her, and whenever he arrived home, his first words to his children were, “Where’s your mother?” A man of even temper, he rarely got angry with his children, and then it was usually because he felt that they were disrespecting their mother. His death on July 15, 2014 was a blow to Eleanor from which she never fully recovered.