Ella Dandy

Ella Dandy, age 104, of Schaller, Iowa entered eternity through her always open window at 11:06 p.m. on July 30, 2011 at the Holstein Good Samaritan Center where she has resided since March of 2009. Ella Peters was born near Hanover on July 28, 1907, the sixth of twelve children born to John and Anna Peters. Ella was baptized, confirmed and married at St. John Lutheran Church in Hanover. On January 29, 1930, Ella married Edgar Dandy and they spent most of their married life in Schaller where Edgar was in the lumber business. Together they raised three children: Eugene, Kathleen, and Darrold. Ella, who began sewing for family and friends when she was eight years old, became an accomplished seamstress. For more than 50 years, she operated a sewing business out of her home. She was particularly proud of the times when she designed and made wedding dresses and graduation gowns based on a clientâ€™s picture or drawing. She loved to garden and share the bounty of flowers and vegetables with friends and neighbors. When she turned 95 years old, she decided to give up gardening. However, she continued to grow tomatoes and other salad vegetables in containers on her patio and driveway until she moved to the nursing home. Playing cards was another of Ellaâ€™s lifelong pleasures. At times, Ella belonged to as many as five card clubs at the same time. She played mostly bridge and 500 but was always willing to play Canasta with her family on Sunday afternoons. She played solitaire nearly every day after meals and continued this regimen throughout her life. Ella was always surrounded by books. Most evenings she would curl up in her favorite chair and read until falling asleep. Failing eye sight forced her to seek big print books and finally to use a magnifying glass, but Ella always had a book to occupy her evenings. Ella and her husband were active members of the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Schaller. She was a long-time member of the churchâ€™s Ladies Aid and she devotedly taught Sunday School for over 25 years. Those left to cherish her memory include two of her children: Kathleen Goettsch of Holstein, Iowa and Darrold Dandy and his wife Carol of Annandale, Virginia; four grandsons: Kirby Goettsch and his wife Trish of Aberdeen, South Dakota; Kirk Goettsch and his wife Ellen of Omaha, Nebraska; Kevin Dandy of Washington, D.C.; and Matthew Dandy of Baltimore, Maryland; ten great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Also surviving Ella are one sister, Ruth Langner of Storm Lake; a brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law, Lincoln Dandy and his wife Gloria of Sioux Rapids, and Edna Aamodt of Prescott, Wisconsin. Ella will be dearly missed by her relatives and friends. Ella was preceded in death by her parents, ten brothers and sisters, her husband in 2005, her son Eugene in 1998, and her son-in-law Loren â€œDocâ€ Goettsch in 2010.

Ella Dandy

July 28, 1907 - July 30, 2011