Myrtle Ellis

Myrtle M. Ellis of Crookston, MN passed away at the Benedictine Living Community Crookston on January 17, 2022.

Myrtle M. (Staehnke) Ellis was born in Bismarck, ND on May 25, 1928 to Harold and Florence Staehnke.  The family moved to Clearbrook, MN in 1932.  Myrtle attended school there and graduated from Clearbrook High School in 1945.  She then moved to St. Paul for employment.

In 1946 Myrtle married her high school sweetheart, Clarence Ellis.  The couple lived in St. Paul and Greenbush before moving to Salol, MN in 1951.  Myrtle worked at the local grain elevator office and was active in Salol School, First Lutheran Church and other community activities.  She was church organist for many years.

Upon moving to Crookston in 1974, Myrtle continued to do bookkeeping work and had many contract jobs with rural grain elevators in the area.  She became very interested in genealogy and did much research and recording of Staehnke and Ellis family histories.  She proudly published a detailed genealogy of her father’s family.  A copy of that publication resides in the Minnesota State University - Moorhead genealogy library.  Myrtle and Clarence were members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Crookston and volunteered at the Polk County Historical Museum.

Myrtle was a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, friend and neighbor.  She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

Myrtle was preceded in death by her husband Clarence, her parents, two sisters, one brother, one brother-in-law and one sister-in-law.  She is survived by her sons David (Bonnie) and Gene, her granddaughters Hayley (Hernando) and Flannery, her great granddaughters Cecilia and Camila, her brother Glenn (Edith) Staehnke and brother-in-law Donald Lange.

The family wishes to thank those relatives, friends and neighbors who provided much loving support while Myrtle lived alone in her home and at the nursing home.  Also, heartfelt thanks are expressed to the caring staff of the Benedictine Living Community (as Myrtle would often say, “They are very good to me here.”).

A memorial service for Myrtle Ellis will be held at 2:00 P.M., May 6, 2022, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Crookston, MN with Pastor Jeff Brown, officiating. Visitation with the family will be for one hour prior to the service. The funeral will be livestreamed by going to Myrtle’s obituary page at www.stenshoelhouske.com and clicking on the view prompt. Online messages may also be conveyed to the family from the website.