Margaret Ann (Ahrens) Ellingson died December 30th, 2022 at Benedictine Living Community in Northfield, Minnesota, surrounded by family, following a courageous battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. She was 84.
Margaret was born on March 19th, 1938, to Harold and Ruth (Tellin) Ahrens in Washington, Iowa, in the family home on West Madison Street. The Ahrens family soon moved to a farm just north of town where her parents raised three children and built a life together. She attended country school through second grade before going to school in town. Margaret looked up to her sister, Reta, who even as a senior made a point of including her freshman sister, and she cared for and cherished her little brother, Phil.
Washington High School’s Homecoming Queen moved to Cedar Falls in the fall of 1956 and earned her two-year teaching degree at Iowa State Teachers College. She began a life-long career as a teacher at Milford Township School with a combined kindergarten-first grade classroom. She was married in 1958 to Roger Kleese, and became mother to Greg and Doug in Ames, Iowa, before moving to the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1962. She quickly became an active member of Presbyterian Church of the Way, teaching Sunday school and leading youth groups on canoe trips in the Boundary Waters. Unsuspecting teens quickly learned she could out-paddle and out-portage the best of them with a smile on her face.
When Tom began first grade, Margaret went back to school to earn her bachelor's degree and eventually re-enter the classroom. She holds the distinction as Macalester College’s first returning adult student. For the next fifteen years she taught in MInnesota and Iowa, from kindergarten to upper elementary, shifting to meet her family’s needs. With each new assignment she brought an energy and commitment to instill the joy of learning in her students’ lives. She is fondly remembered by many former students as a favorite, who encouraged but didn’t coddle. When a disappointed kindergartener tugged on her blouse to tell her, “I don’t like what we’re having for a snack,” she responded in a loving but firm manner, “Maybe you’ll like what we’re having tomorrow.” Margaret’s passion for education made her an obvious choice for the Kenyon School Board in 1982, where she led the charge for a merger with Wanamingo that respected both communities.
Looking for a new challenge after teaching, Margaret embarked on a career as an administrative aide at St. Olaf College for ten years until her retirement. The fact that a Norwegian liberal arts college on a hill was now her home made perfect sense to a German-Czech farm girl from the rich soil of Washington County. The St. Olaf Christmas Festival was an annual highlight and point of pride for Margaret, and she meticulously kept notes in her calendar to ensure she had tickets as soon as they went on sale.
Margaret married Bernhard “Pete” Ellingson on January 10th, 1997, and the happy couple enjoyed the good life together in Northfield, Denison and Red Wing before moving into their new apartment at Benedictine in August 2021. Margaret and Pete set out on many journeys, following her meticulous route plans on their way to some warmer clime, then choosing to meander on the way home without any agenda. Summers were spent at Pete’s cabin in Ontario and vacations to Alaska and Norway added to their adventures.
Margaret’s amazing organizational skills served her well not only in her professional life, but in researching and assembling family history albums and in creating a numbered, color-coded spreadsheet presented to her sons containing all her possessions with notes of attribution -twenty years before her death.
When Harold told Ruth, “Mother, it’s time to move to town before one of us has to,” Margaret made frequent trips to Washington, supporting and loving her parents through the changes in their lives. She inherited her love of nature from her mother, spending glorious days out in the garden and watching for familiar and unfamiliar types of birds. She preferred planting and nurturing wildflowers which enhanced the beauty of the landscape.
Music was an essential part of her life, and Margaret played the piano daily until her condition would not allow. She brought her love of music into the classroom, teaching private piano lessons, playing for United Methodist in Nerstrand and directing the Christmas pageant at First Lutheran in Kenyon.
Margaret’s faith gave her strength, and it was an honest and personal faith to which she turned in both times of abundance and of struggle. Starting in 2007, she collected favorite passages of Scripture, notes from friends, and words to live by in her “Grow Old Gratefully” journal which she turned to everyday. Margaret chose a life of gratitude that was obvious to family, friends and those who cared for her as her health deteriorated. She faced her diagnosis clear-eyed and with dignity, and her mind remained sharp.
Margaret often shared that being a good mother and grandmother were her proudest accomplishments.
Margaret was preceded in death by her parents, sister Reta and brother-in-law Earnie Beemblossom. She is survived by husband Bernhard (Pete), brother Phillip (JoAnne) Ahrens of Grand Haven, Michigan, her three sons Greg (Anngie) Kleese of Northfield, Doug (Mary) Kleese of Kenyon, and Tom (Hilary) Kleese of Verona, Wisconsin, nine grandchildren (Isaac, Katie, Hannah, Roger, Emma, Samantha, Benjamin, Jackson and Joseph) and six great-grandchildren.
Margaret is now surely seated with a very upright posture, joyfully playing the piano and expecting others to soon join her in song – because that’s what you do when Margaret plays. The most-cherished words of praise she would ever hear as a child from her Daddy can now be said about her life: “You done good.”
A thank you goes out to the caregivers at Benedictine Living In Northfield and the Allina Hospice team. You truly made a difference for Margaret and her family over her final months.
A visitation at Michaelson Funeral Home in Kenyon will be held on Friday, January 20th from 4:00-7:00 p.m. A memorial service at First Evangelical Lutheran in Kenyon will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 21st, with visitation at the church starting at 10:00 a.m. There will be a private family graveside ceremony immediately after the service, with lunch and fellowship at the church to follow.
Memorials may be directed to Kenyon/Wanamingo school district general fund and to Cure PSP www.psp.org
