She left the family farm in Hesperia, Michigan, to go to Grand Rapids to attend Catholic Central High School for her senior year. Elsie graduated with the class of 1948 as the only daughter in her family with the honor.
Being away from family was hard, but each weekend a group drove from Grand Rapids to Hesperia to spend Sunday dinner with their families. The handsome driver and brother of her best friend Faustina, Benjamin (Ben), became her husband in 1951.
Elsie was very modern for the times. She took a job with Old Kent Bank but needed to leave the workforce when she became pregnant and started to show. She returned to the bank after her sixth child, started school, and rose to the rank of night proof supervisor where her team was responsible for processing all the transactions of the day.
After retirement, her second career began as a docent for the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Her spark for life and love of people made her the perfect person to greet the hundreds of school buses that visited each year. Elsie was quick with a fast fact and history lesson, which led her to be part of a team to start the “Tea and Fashion” outreach program to bring vintage clothing and artifacts from the Museum and share them with local nursing homes while drinking tea.
She approached life with a servant mentality. She was most happy when she was helping others such as being a member of the Blessed Sacrament Church cleaning crew, committed adorer for Eucharistic adoration, reading at weekly Masses, and making and serving her special concoction of Hawaiian Punch and Sprite for funerals and luncheons.
She always liked a challenge and was a lifetime learner. She took landscape painting lessons in her fifties. She decided the baby grand piano in the old house was too quiet, so she took piano lessons at 62. She joined “Chickens Learn to Swim” class at the YMCA and jumped into the pool at 65, joined her first golf league at 80, and walked the Mackinaw Bridge, for the second time, at 88.
As an avid bowler she was on many leagues through the years, once bowled on the TV show “Bowling for Dollars,” and was a ringer on her Heron Woods Assisted Living Wii Bowling team.
Throughout her lifetime she had a desire to see new places and meet people. Whether it was a car, bus, train, boat, or plane – Elsie was ready to go. She visited 44 of the 50 United States and especially enjoyed her trips to Ireland and Italy. One of her last trips was to visit the Redwoods in California, which fulfilled a lifetime childhood dream to see the actual place from a postcard an uncle gave her showing a car driving through a tree.
If you were lucky enough to spend time with her in person, you might find this “hat lady” doing a puzzle, or telling stories, usually ending with a joke; “did you hear the one about…”
Family and friends will always remember this devout Catholic for her laughter and love of life. Our memories can focus on finding her on a sunny day swinging on her porch glider, smelling the flowers, and saying prayers while counting on her rosary beads.
She is preceded in death by many -- her parents, Albert and Bessie, loving husband Ben, brothers Leslie and Edward, sister Edith, and twin Kay.
She was proud of her family. She raised six children, Diane Yob, Barb Woltanski (Mark), Therese Lasswell (Cam), Cyril Yob, John Yob (Nancy), and Paula Gwyn (John). She always loved talking about her wonderful grandchildren and sharing a photo or two of Sarah, Marie, Carl, and Eve, as well as her great grandchildren Everett, Ian, and Elliott.
Some people want to be stars when they grow up, but Elsie was the sun - shining brightly and boldly, covering everyone with her warmth. Though we mourn the loss of our friend, mother, and mentor, we know that the heavens just got a little brighter.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Blessed Sacrament Church. There will be a visitation at the Blessed Sacrament Church (2275 Diamond Ave. NE. Grand Rapids, MI 49505) on Tuesday September 5th, starting at 10:00AM. Funeral Mass will begin at 11:00 AM followed by a luncheon at the same location. The family will be at Resurrection Cemetery (4100 Clyde Park Ave SW, Wyoming, MI 49509) at 2:00 PM for the interment.
As a final tribute to Elsie, we ask that you might say a rosary in her name.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.reyersnorthvalleychapel.com for the Yob family.
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Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church2275 Diamond Ave NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505
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