Eldora Maurene Engebretson

Eldora Maurene Engebretson

Eldora Maurene Engebretson was born on January 18, 1940, to Iver and Lucille Engebretson in Fargo, North Dakota. She was the oldest of three children. As a young girl once influenced by World War Two, she was a veteran who has left her mark on the world in avenues which so many have benefitted from. Three years of service, a lifetime of technical work, and public service allowed her to experience the world in unimaginable ways. She truly lived by the quote by Helen Keller: "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight, but no vision".

In her younger years, she had a number of jobs: picking strawberries, sorting peas for processing, selling greeting cards, and delivering papers, just to name a few. She had a vision to join the military but was told she could not by her parents. Girls back then needed a parental signature to join. Her dad had served five years in World War Two and didn't want her to have the experience that he had. Disappointed, but hopeful, Eldora attended college at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, for three years. She still had this vision of joining the military and asked her parents again. This time they consented, and in 1961 Eldora made her way from the West Coast in Spokane, Washington to train as a Dental Technician. This marked the prelude to Eldora's service and an unexpected lifetime of engineering and design work. She began her basic training on August 1st, 1961, at Ft. McClellan in Anniston, Alabama. She described it as her defining moment in the service, and something that she had been looking forward to for years. After basic training she flew to Ft. Sam in Houston, Texas for Medical Corpsman Training, which she had to take before attending Dental Lab Technician Training which was so arduous and competitive only twenty made it through the class, including Eldora. After making it through training, she began Dental Technician School. She was more than prepared for the intensive engineering and math. She finished Dental Technician School in April of 1962 and made her way to Ft. Hood, Texas, to become a prosthetics doctor's assistant and lab tech until 1964.

Soon after she left active duty and joined the Army Reserve in Texas in January of 1965.

In 1965 Eldora returned to Spokane to be with family and worked in the lab at Peerless Dentists. She moved to Seattle and worked for Harrison Dental Lab in Seattle starting in 1966. Her position caused a number of breathing and health problems, ultimately forcing her to leave the service.

After this ordeal Eldora decided to take drafting classes. Drafting was the technical drawing and creation of accurate representations of objects, buildings, or houses for architectural or engineering purposes. With Eldora's math, engineering, and design-oriented life she wanted to explore drafting, but in high school it was only offered as a boy's class so she couldn't take it. She signed up at the Seattle Central Community College for drafting and began her journey after service. Eventually, Eldora started working and did ductwork and ventilation in buildings, as well as heating on school roofs and baggage claim carousels. She followed up on this work and got into Aerospace Technology. The pursuit of this career in aviation, technology, and design stemmed from her knowledge of math and precision as a dental tech. Finally, Eldora retired as a CAD Systems Analyst and had this to say about it: "Who would have thought that this college dropout that went after their dreams could retire as a CAD Systems Analyst."

In 1966 she met a woman in Seattle, Joanne Engelbretson, who became her faithful companion for life. They shared 48 years together, making their home in 1986 in Peoria, Arizona, enjoying the warm weather. They loved to entertain in their home, sharing food and fellowship with countless numbers of family and friends. They were fortunate to marry on October 2, 2014, just 13 days before Joanne's death. Eldora was proud that she and Joanne were the first same-sex marriage recognized by the Community of Christ Church in the United States. She is a member of the Women's Army Corps Veterans Association, the only woman veteran's organization chartered by congress, and served the national president from 2000-2002. This role in the WACVA afforded her one of the greatest honors she had which is laying the wreath at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier four times. Eldora is also a member of the honor guard and is listed in the 2nd class in the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame. She considered herself very privileged because of those years in the military, and she wouldn't have traded them for anything.

She was a proud member of the Community of Christ. She was baptized at the age of 8. She was called to the Office of Deacon and was ordained in 2015.

She served in many capacities in the church, especially serving as Head Deacon and Facilities Manager for the Thunderbird West Congregation in Glendale, Arizona, and creating amazing PowerPoints to enhance the worships for the Lebanon, Missouri Congregation.

She especially loved her 'boys': her black cat Jack and her black and white cat Andy.

Eldora passed away in her home on March 1, 2026, at the age of 86, surrounded by so many who loved her.

She was proceeded in death her beloved wife Joanne, her parents, and her brother, Nels Engebretson.

Treasuring her life are her sister ShirleyAnn and husband John L. Wilson, niece Jennifer Keller; and nephew John Iver Wilson and his wife Melissa. She cherished her bond with her great nieces and nephews Scotty, Skye, Summer, John, and Iver, along with numerous family members, friends, and neighbors who will always treasure the opportunity to share a portion of her amazing life.

She will be remembered especially for her quick wit, her generosity, her willingness to help others, her genuine caring and concern, the kindness in her very being and the many memories and stories she shared. She was truly a walking historian.

Eldora always said she was blessed with wonderful family and friends, but the countless number of lives she touched. She was one of the best.

"Those we love don't go away.

They walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard, but always near."