Ellen Irene Gelking

Ellen Irene Gelking, Beloved mother, grandmother, Ellen I Gelking, of Burnsville, Minnesota, passed away November 27th, 2025 at the age of 92. She was preceded in death by her parents, Stanley and Ellen Lewan, her beloved husband Joseph, and son James.

She was born Ellen Irene Lewan, the only child of Stanley and Ellen Lewan, February 1st, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois. Born during the great depression, she remembered the hardships of not enough food, and the difficulty of finding an affordable place to live, and her father's constant effort to find work to support the family. Nevertheless she recalled the joy of growing up with wonderful aunts and uncles, who showered her with love, as there were few other children in the extended family. The Lewan family enjoyed music. Uncle Hank played the piano, her father Stanley played the guitar, her Aunt Irene and Uncle Casey were good singers.

During World War 2 she recalled tending the family "victory" garden. Her father worked as a security guard at the building where ration stamps were processed, and one night was nearly killed by an intruder who was trying to steal gas stamps, which were highly coveted. Circumstances required the family to move to St. Paul, Minnesota, where she spent the majority of her teen years. She graduated high school in 1951.

Her life changed in 1955. While working at the St. Paul Fire and Marine insurance company, she became close friends with a coworker named Florence, who one day invited Ellen to come up to visit the family farm in central Minnesota. There Florence introduced her to her cousin, Joseph Gelking, who had just gotten out of the army. The two were married in December, 1956.

Joe got a job with IBM. The joke at the time was that IBM stood for "I've Been Moved", as the couple was bounced around between Kingston, New York, and Madison, Wisconsin. It was in Madison where they were blessed with four sons, James in 1958, Wayne in 1960, Daniel in 1962, and Michael in 1964.

It was in 1964 when IBM wanted to move them yet again, this time to Huntsville, Alabama. They didn't want to move to Alabama, so they made the very difficult decision to resign from what was considered a highly prized job at IBM, and move to Minnesota, which had a growing computer industry. Joe got a job with Control Data Corp.

They bought a house in the young community of Burnsville, which Ellen's father Stanley said was "practically in Iowa". They joined the brand new parish, Mary Mother of the Church. Ellen, who had good typing skills, was offered a job at the parish by the pastor, Fr. Donald Burns. Ellen worked as a secretary at the church for over 20 years.

Ellen retired to care for Joe, who had developed Parkinson's Disease. In 1988 they welcomed a grand child, Alex, who inherited her family's love for music. In 2010, she lost her beloved Joe after 53 years of marriage. She lost her son James, also to Parkinson's, in 2022.

Ellen is survived by her sons Wayne, Daniel, and Michael Gelking, grandson Alex (Annika), plus many nieces and nephews and friends. Mass of Christian Burial will be Tuesday, December 9th, at 11 am. Mary Mother of the Church, 3333 Cliff Road, Burnsville. Visitation 1 hour prior to service. Interment Ft. Snelling National Cemetery.