Ellen Louise Schultz

Ellen Louise "Sis" Schultz was born June 19th, 1925, the second of three children of Houser and Estelle (Halverson) Rockwell. She died March 28th, 2018. Friends know Ellen by her nickname, Sis. Her brother Jim started calling her Sis and it stuck as a nickname ever since. In the last several years she preferred Ellen. She lived all of her life in Mondovi, WI graduating from Mondovi High School in 1943. When correct, she enjoyed teasing her family with the narrative under her senior yearbook photo "don't dispute her, she's never wrong". Ellen worked for Nogle Insurance Agency until marrying George Schultz on July 1st 1946. They were married for 66 years. George passed away in 2012. Ellen was the bookkeeper for the George Schultz Distributing Company, a Leinenkugel Beer distributorship she and George owned for 30 years. Ellen was the Den 4 Den Mother for over a decade. She received the first 10-year Den Mother pin awarded in the history of Mondovi's Pack 65. There are many interesting stories about her time in Cub Scouts. One of the most interesting was coming home to a house full of boys standing on a water-soaked carpet in the living room. Fritz, the family dog, turned on an upstairs bathroom faucet. The water overflowed and dripped through the ceiling and down onto the living room floor. She's best known today for the years dedicated to coordinating the Mondovi Food Pantry. In the early 1980's Ellen was asked by her friend Judy Whelan to manage the recently opened food pantry. Ellen accepted the challenge and worked tirelessly to keep the pantry well stocked and operating smoothly. The pantry grew yearly and was moved from the original location in the basement of the current Hope Gospel Mission to the basement of the Sacred Heart School, and finally to its current location in the Stamm Building on Hudson Street. In 2012, at age 87, health issues forced her to turn over the keys of her beloved pantry to the Mondovi Pastoral Association. Ellen was a member of Zion Lutheran Church where she was active in the Ladies Society and enjoyed the Friday Senior Communion gatherings. Ellen and her father, Houser Rockwell, were both honored as Mondovi Citizen of the Year. Houser in 1987 and Ellen 10 years later in 1997. She was a proud lady with a flair for bold colors, kitchen gadgets, and red roses. Her cane was decorated with bright flowers, her walker had a pink and black tiger stripe seat cover, and when typewriters were the norm hers typed in script. Ellen enjoyed indoor activities and reading was her favorite pastime. Interestingly, she loved to spend the day with George while he was tent camping on a sandbar on the Mississippi River. When sandbar camping became too difficult they switched to month long trailer camping at Rieck's Park in Alma. Ellen would read and relax, George fished and did the cooking and cleaning! Ellen is survived by her six children: Steve (Penny), Kathy (Wendel) Hall, Chuck (Suzanne), John (Suzi), James "Tiger" (Diane), and Mary (Peter) Heck, eleven grand children and many great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, George, her parents, Houser and Estelle Rockwell, and brothers and sisters-in-law, Jim and Elaine and Fred and Gwen Rockwell. A memorial service will be held at Zion Lutheran Church on Friday, April 6, 2018 at 11:00 am with Pastor Paul Woebbeking officiating with a visitation starting at 9:00 am. Memorial gifts in Ellen's name may be sent to The Mondovi Area Food Pantry, Mondovi Cub Scout Pack 65, or the Women's Society of Zion Lutheran Church.