Margaret Newton Elden

Margaret Newton Elden died February 27, 2004, in Salem, OR. She was a resident of Lancaster Village Assisted Living and had been at the Lancaster Village apartments since 1987 after moving to Oregon from Chicago. She was 94. She was born June 13, 1909, in Chicago to Thomas Dodd Newton and Annie Margaret (Clay) Newton and lived there most of her life except while moving around the country as her husband's Navy duty stations changed. She graduated from Chicago's University High School and attended the University of Chicago and business school. She retired in her mid seventies after working for many years as a legal secretary for a trial lawyer in the Chicago law firm of Sonnenschein et al. She previously had a wide range of secretarial jobs including church secretary at Trinity Methodist Church in the Beverly Hills area of Chicago. She was the widow of LT Ralph W. Elden, USN of Central Point, OR who attended one year at Oregon State University and then attended and graduated from the United States Naval Academy. They were married March 13, 1937. He was killed at the Battle of Midway June 6, 1942, while serving as the Executive Officer of the USS Hammann, DD 412. LT Elden received the Navy Cross and had a ship named for him, the USS Elden, DE 264. Margaret Elden was the ship's sponsor when the Elden was placed in commission at Boston Navy Yard August 4, 1943. LT Elden's name is listed at the Portland Memorial Coliseum, Depoe Bay and in Hawaii's Punch Bowl cemetery. For many years Margaret Elden was secretary to the resident's council at Lancaster Village and enjoyed helping others including reading to the sight impaired. She enjoyed reading, cross word and other word puzzles and knitting. She was affiliated with Salem First Church of the Nazarene and a member of Trinity Methodist Church in Chicago. Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, Thomas and Carol Elden of Salem; and four grandchildren, Holly Elden, Laura Chappell, Heather Hill, and John Elden; two great-grandchildren, Daniel Thomas Hill and Josie Caroline Hill; and a nephew, William Hilton Croft. She was a member of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society and the Crew Member Associations of the USS Hammann, DD 412 and the USS Elden, DE 264. Mrs. Elden's ashes will be scattered in the Pacific and she will rejoin her husband who was buried at sea. A memorial service was held Friday March 5, 2004 at Lancaster Village Assisted Living at 4156 Market Street, NE, Salem, OR. Contributions may be made to the Bethesda Lutheran Homes, 700 Hoffmann Drive, Watertown, WI 53094.