Elsie Mae Aide

1926 - 2024

Elsie Mae Aide

July 20, 1926 - October 10, 2024

HAZEL GREEN, WI - Elsie Mae Aide, 98, of Hazel Green, WI passed away peacefully at Agrace Hospice Care in Fitchburg, WI on Thursday, October 10, 2024. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 26th at Haudenshield Funeral Home & Crematory in Cuba City, WI, with Fr. Kenneth Frisch officiating. Burial will follow in the St. Francis de Sales Church Cemetery in Hazel Green, WI. Family & friends may call on Saturday, October 26th from 9:00 a.m. until the time of service at the funeral home. The Haudenshield Funeral Home & Crematory in Cuba City, WI is serving he family. Elsie Mae was born on July 20, 1926, in Freeport, IL, the daughter of George and Bertha Banwarth. She loved to reminisce about the family farm and the one-room school in rural Elizabeth where she enjoyed a loving and happy childhood. After graduating from Elizabeth High School in 1943, she joined the Cadet Nursing Corps and earned the degree registered nurse from the St. Francis School of Nursing in Freeport, IL. Elsie Mae enjoyed her nursing career first at the Hazel Green Hospital and then later at the Cuba City Nursing Home. She remained a devoted friend to her nurses' training classmates and many of the people she worked with in her nursing career. Elsie Mae often recounted the 1946 Thanksgiving night dance at the Royal Palais in Galena where she was first impressed by a handsome Navy aviator, Fred Aide of Hazel Green, WI. They were married on May 8, 1948. They would enjoy many more dances with friends and family over the years. They also loved to travel. During their 68 years of marriage, they visited all 50 states, 49 countries, and six of seven continents. They cruised the Mississippi, the Caribbean, the Nile, the Amazon, the Alaska/Canada Inside Passage, the Mediterranean and the Southeast Asia coast. Throughout her life Elsie Mae was actively involved in civic organizations that included American Auxiliary, PTA, Band Mothers, Cub Scout and Girl Scout leader, Red Cross volunteer, and bridge club member. In her later years her love of card playing continued as she treasured the numerous games of 500 and euchre with her beloved nieces. Devoted to the Catholic Church, she regularly attended Sunday mass and often weekday masses as well, where she often led the rosary. She was a member of the St. Frances de Sales Altar and Rosary Society. Known for her thoughtfulness, Elsie Mae wrote long and newsy letters to friends all over the world and sent thousands of greeting cards to family and friends. As a frequent hostess for friend and family get-togethers, Elsie Mae enjoyed making each event special and inviting to all. She decorated inside and out for most holidays with Christmas being her favorite. Elsie Mae was a devoted mother to four daughters and one son: Bonnie (John) Cox, Susan (John) Udelhofen, Claudia (Greg) Quam, Mary Kay Aide, and Jeffrey Aide. Elsie Mae was an especially loving and attentive grandmother to Jennifer Cox Baker, Emily (John) Craiger, Michael (Adriana) Cox, Brian (Erin) Udell, Katie (Peter) Udelhofen-Clark, David (Allison) Quam, Andrew Quam, Tyler Aide Whisenant and Lea Aide Hulsey. Losing her granddaughter, Katie Udelhofen-Clark, to leukemia in 2016 broke her heart. Elsie Mae loved babies and took delight in the arrival of each of her 14 great-grandchildren: Julia and Danny Baker; Johno and Audrey Craiger; Benjamin, Emilia, and Vivian Cox; Genevieve and Sebastian Udell; Gracie Udelhofen-Clark; Bennett and Caitlin Quam, and Owen and Westley Whisenant. Elsie Mae was preceded in death by her parents, husband, three brothers, five sisters, and granddaughter.

Her family and friends will remember her as always appearing younger than her years and being "young at heart," too. We realize how blessed we were to have had her in our lives.

In lieu of plants and flowers, an Elsie Mae Aide Memorial Fund has been established. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.haudenshieldfuneralhome.com

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Prairie Ridge of Galena, IL, Attic Angel Place of Middleton, WI, Meritor Hospital in Madison, WI and Agrace Hospice Care in Fitchburg, WI for the compassionate care & kindness given to Elsie Mae and her family.