Ethel Eloise Brennecke

Ethel Eloise Brennecke, 86, of Ackley Iowa, passed away July 30, 2018 at her home. Visitation will be held from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m., Saturday, August 4, 2018 at the Patterson United Methodist Church, Patterson. Funeral services will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the church with burial to follow in the Union Chapel Cemetery, south of Patterson. Memorials may be directed to the family. Ethel Eloise Drake was born August, 14, 1931, in a farmhouse 11 miles west of Winterset in Jackson Township, Madison County, Iowa. She was the daughter of Mary Louise (Brown) and Alfred Dean Drake. She lived on the farm until the age of two, then lived in the Winterset/Patterson area until the age of eight. In 1939, Eloise moved to Patterson, Iowa with her parents. Eloise attended Patterson Consolidated School for 12 years and at the age of 16 graduated from high school in May 1948 as Valedictorian of her class. She attended Iowa State University, working her way through two years of college. Eloise was baptized and joined the Patterson United Methodist Church at an early age. She served the Methodist Church in Patterson as Sunday School Librarian, Treasurer and substitute pianist. Eloise was also a Sunday School Teacher (Marshalltown, Ackley); Nursery Director (Marshalltown, Yuma); Junior Choir Director (Ackley); and sang in church choirs (Ames, Ackley). Eloise was a 4-H member and later a 4-H leader. At the age of 16, Eloise was employed as a stenographer by the Iowa State Department of Social Welfare in Des Moines. She was later employed by H.N. Rogers, Bonding Attorney, Des Moines; for an Income Tax Attorney, Yuma, Arizona; Mote, Wilson & Welp, Attorneys, Marshalltown; and for Frank Brennecke Farm Management, Marshalltown. She was united in marriage to Frank Brennecke on May 24, 1953, having met at Iowa State University in 1949. They were married at The Little Brown Church, Nashua, Iowa and drove on their honeymoon to Kakabeka Falls, Ontario Canada. To this union were born six children. Eloise and her husband, Frank, resided in Marshalltown for 12 years; Yuma, Arizona for two years; Patterson, Iowa for three months; Norwalk, Iowa for seven months; and Ackley, Iowa from 1965 until 2018. Eloise was a lifetime member of the Federated Garden Clubs of Iowa, Inc. and the National State Garden Clubs, Inc. She was a Junior Garden Club leader (for 11 years) and a State Junior Garden Club Chairman (for six years). Eloise also served as Horticulture Society Representative, State Garden Club Secretary and was a board member of The Federated Garden Clubs of Iowa, Inc. for 30 years. Eloise’s greatest joys in life were her six children, including a set of twins, her grandchildren, flowers, music, her close friends of many years and the beautiful sunsets at the farm where she was born. She is survived by six children, Dan (Sandy) Brennecke, Janita (Bryce) Abbas, Jackie Brennecke, Jeanie (Andrew) Cook, Doug Brennecke, and Elaine (Jim) Moats; 13 grandchildren (Ariann (Billy), Alyse , Amy (Brant), John (Kierstin), Carissa (Chris), Ashley (Brad), Mike (Kelsey), Cassie, Skyler, Spencer, Sarah, Marshall, and Jaxon); five great grandchildren (Emerson, Addilyn, Clayton, Vivian, and Verity); one brother, Allen (Marilyn) Drake; nieces, nephews and other extended family. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.