Elnora "Ellie" Elaine Anderson was born September 6, 1929, and was born into eternal life, March 27, 2015.

Ellie was the daughter of Willis and Helen Dewitt. She was raised by her grandparents in Huron, SD. There, she met her chosen sisters, Sylvia and Janet, and they became inseparable. They would write each other's excuses to skip school, would smoke coffee cigarettes at the cemetery, and got into trouble for charging a large amount of cherry coke at the local drugstore. The three of them shared a lifetime bonded as sisters, friendship and love.

Ellie would often go to the farm in Bryant, SD. There she would visit her siblings, Lenora, Wanda, LaMerna, Lawrence, Willis, Lavonne, Delores, and Wilma. She enjoyed that time with her siblings and would often talk of the picnics, adventures, and endless summer nights that they shared. Ellie formed a special bond with her sister, Wilma. She said it was a deep and powerful love.

Ellie met her husband, James, in Huron, SD. She would let him into the movie theater where she worked for free. He said he had been paying for it ever since. They married April 13, 1949, and they spent 50 years together. James and Ellie based their marriage on laughter, joking, and being each other's very best friend. Together they raised six girls; Lynn, Debbie, Leona, Kim, Tammy, and Tana. They adopted their youngest daughter, Tana. She would often tease them that even when given the choice, they got another girl.

James and Ellie moved to Rapid City, in the late 70's. They purchased the little red house on the corner of Milwaukee. The memories inside that home consisted of slumber parties with the grandkids, family dinners, grandpa teaching the grandsons how to check your oil in the pickup, the smell of fresh laundry, and unconditional love.

Ellie enjoyed movies, reading mysteries, cats, music of all kinds, and going for walks. She was a very active person. Even at the end, she would walk the bike path with her walker that she called "Clyde." She once said that she was going to change his name to Charlotte as she was tired of dragging a man around. In her last years, she was cared for by her daughters, Tammy and Tana. She moved to Aspen Grove Assisted Living in Sturgis for a while and then into her daughter Tana's home for the last months of her life.

Ellie passed away peacefully at her home with Tammy, Tana, and her chosen daughter, Misty, by her side on the morning of Friday March 27, 2015.

She leaves behind her daughters, Lynn (John) Norton, Debbie (George) McClain, Tammy (Arden) Davis, Tana (Brad) Stock, and her fur baby, Star Shine; her chosen sons, Alan Wessel, Steve Wessel, Dan Bermingham, Lance Berg, and Rick Demma; her chosen daughters, Misty Bruce, Jill Mundy, April Lutheran, and Kelly Hammerstaedt; her chosen sister, Sylvia Myers; her siblings, Wilma, Lenora, LaMerna, Delores, and Willis; and her many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson.

She was rejoined in heaven by her husband, James Anderson; daughter, Leona Demma; granddaughter, Jasmine Cliff; two sisters; and one brother.

Ellie's humor, laughter, and award winning smile will be greatly missed. What Ellie taught us and leaves behind with us is this family isn't always blood, there is room in your heart to love, and each day you're alive should be greeted with child-like wonder and laughter.

Visitation will be Friday April 3, 2015, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel.

Graveside services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, April 4, 2015, at Pine Lawn Memorial Park in Rapid City, with a gathering at her daughter Tana's home in Spearfish following the committal.