Elaine West

ate line Mount Vernon Ellen Elaine Whipple West, 102 years young, passed away peacefully on December 21, 2012, in Tucson, AZ. Hers daughters Susan and Sandy were at her side. Elaine wanted her obituary to include: "She has been there, done that, and now she's gone." Services for Elaine will be Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. at Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices Mount Vernon. Services will be held in Tucson and Mount Vernon. Dates have not yet been determined. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton. Services were held at Tucson. Elaine was born August 6, 1910 in Vinton, Iowa, the second daughter to Lucien Blaine and Lillian LeFebre Whipple. The family moved often and lived in many places in six states. Elaine attended Jackson Elementary, McKinley Middle School and graduated from Old Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Elaine married Stephen West on December 14, 1941. The couple lived near Mount Vernon and farmed for 54 years on the West family farm. Beginning in the early 1970s, they spent their winters in San Carlos, Mexico, and later in Tucson. Stephen and Elaine loved to travel and toured Mexico for several months. They also toured the South Pacific and Far East including Tahiti, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Their daughters remember the wonderful summer trips to Florida, South Dakota, Colorado and Wyoming with Elaine as navigator and tour guide. Elaine gave of her time to the community by teaching Sunday school and being active in the Campfire Girls. She was a member of the Friendship Club, Club Eleven and Questors in Mount Vernon. Her interests were many and varied but the project that was closest to her heart was genealogy. Elaine inherited the West and Clingman family histories from her mother-in-law Bessie Hayden West and expanded upon them. Elaine and her brother Blaine researched the Whipple line. Survivors include her daughters Susan West, of Mount Vernon and Tucson; Sandra West, Vail, AZ; brother Blaine (Ines) Whipple Portland, OR; sister Mary Ann (Bill) McPherson, of Littleton, MA; many nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death were Elaine's parents, stepfather C.H. Zastera, stepmother Pearl Whipple, brothers James and Richard Whipple, sisters Nancy Jasperson and Pat Drotzman, son-in-law John Crandell. Her beloved husband Stephen passed away in 1998. Morgan Funeral Choices, Mount Vernon is in charge of arrangements. A memorial fund has been established. On line condolences, www.morganfuneralchoices.com, or cards may be mailed to Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices, 715 10th Ave S.W., Mount Vernon, Iowa 52314.