Ethel Fleming

Ethel Margaret Hagen Fleming passed away peacefully in her home in Monument, CO, on Wednesday evening, Sept. 30, 2015. Born on Nov. 12, 1922, in Osseo, Wisconsin, to Emma Lena Scholz and Guy Joseph Hagen, she would have been 93 years old on her next birthday. Ethel and her husband of 65 years, Herbert M. Fleming, were married on Oct. 20, 1943 in Winnepeg, Canada, where Herb was stationed with the Royal Canadian Air Force at the beginning of WWII. Thus began a career that extended to 33 years and ended with Herb earning the rank of full colonel.

Ethel was no ordinary woman. She lost her mother when she was only 12 years old. Subsequently she almost single-handedly raised her three younger siblings, Joseph, Dorothy, and Gwen while their father traveled for a living and before he remarried to Marion Haines. Guy and Marion became parents to George Michael, Ethel's half--brother.

When Ethel was 26 years old, only 4 years after having married Herb, she was stricken with polio in one of our nation's virulent epidemics. She was left a paraplegic with the use of a few vital muscles, to include only one hand and forearm. Confined to a wheelchair thereafter, she fought her entire life to achieve everything she could imagine, as well as being a model wife to Herb and a model mother to Stephen Brent and Lina Margaret.

Her years were filled with accomplishments far beyond what might have been expected had she been an ordinary person. As she and Herb traveled during Herb's military career to such places as Panama, Taiwan, and Europe, as well as various stations in the U. S., she became a leader of women in international women's and military wives' clubs. She immersed herself in the cultures of places she lived, becoming a lecturer at museums on subjects such as Incan art. She taught herself to paint the vibrant people and cultures she lived among and learned to create native art forms. Always proud of her own heritage, Ethel perfected the craft of rosemaling, a Norwegian painting decoration. She sewed and tailored her own clothes and those of her daughter, to include formal gowns and suede suits. Needlepoint became a passion. She completed exquisite pieces from miniature-sized to as large as 4 feet across. Her interest in the use of color in painting and needlepoint led to the art of quilting. During the two years before Herb's death in 2008, they created 26 quilts together, one for each member of the family, a monumental endeavor of talent, love and devotion.

It was creativity, love and devotion, which were the center of Ethel's life. She attracted friends who loved her dearly and learned from her many interests. She gave of herself selflessly whenever there was a need, to friends and family both. They in turn were taught what strength really means.

Ethel leaves behind her beloved sister Gwen Hartley, her son, Stephen Fleming, her daughter, Jordan Austin (Lina), and her grandchildren, Daniel, William, Zara and Stephanie, and countless nieces and nephews and their families. Five little great-grandsons are the next generation coming forward to live their lives as their great-grandparents did, with love, devotion, creativity, strength, and endurance.

A memorial service will be planned for the spring in Osseo, WI where Ethel and Herb's ashes will be interred in Hale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers or gifts to the family, please instead learn something new, create something which reflects the beauty of this world, stop to help a person with a disability, and adopt an elderly person from whom you can learn so much about life.

In addition, a memorial website has been setup at http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/ for your viewing and sentiments.