Edna Strom

Date of Birth

Jan 27,1919

Date of Death

Nov 05,2013

Edna V. Strom, age 94, of Lily Lake, Illinois, passed away on Tuesday, November 5th, 2013, at Heritage Square in Dixon, Illinois, her residence for the past four years.Born on January 27, 1919, in Babcock, Wisconsin, Edna was the eldest child of Carl and Fredrika Olson who had immigrated from Sweden. Early in her childhood the family moved to the Wasco, Illinois farming community where she attended school and graduated from St. Charles High School in 1936. For the next several years Edna worked in Chicago as a secretary at Sears, Roebuck, and Co.On September 7, 1940, Edna was married to Anders Elof Strom at Grace Lutheran Church in Lily Lake, their family church for all of their lives. To this union were born five children. Elof and Edna moved their family to the Strom farm in Lily Lake in 1952. Edna was active in her church where she directed choirs, taught Sunday School, led the women’s group, and organized the 75th and 100th year anniversaries of the church. She was an excellent pianist and frequent soloist for weddings and funerals, especially if songs were requested to be sung in Swedish. She was involved in her children’s schools and activities.In 1962 she began a nearly 30 year career at St. Charles National Bank, which is now known as Fifth Third Bank in downtown St. Charles. Beginning as an executive secretary, she retired as Vice President at what then had become Old Kent Bank. During these years she was also active in and served as president of the local tri-cities Zonta group, an international professional business women’s organization.During her lifetime, she maintained regular correspondence with many cousins in Sweden. She visitedtheir homes in 1979 and 1990, and hosted them in hers more than a dozen times over the years.She was preceded in death by her husband Elof in 1985, an infant son Lowell Anders, and a great- granddaughter. In addition, her parents, brothers Carl and Roy Olson, sister Leona (Mrs. Earl) Anderson, and nephew Chuck Olson predeceased her.Edna is survived by her daughter Rianne Leaf of Minneapolis, MN, and three sons: Warren (Patti) of Lily Lake, John (Barbara) of Dixon, and Leland (Twyla) of Elgin and Washington, D.C. She also has 14 grandchildren: Nathan (Keri) Leaf of Houston, TX, Aaron and Christopher (Cristy) Leaf of Minneapolis, Lucas (Melissa) Strom of Lily Lake, Damon Strom of Germany, Mary (Tim) Goral of Dixon, Sarah (John) Petersen of Washington, D.C., Rachel (Patrick) Chambers and Elizabeth Strom of Chicago, Sam Strom of West Dundee, Emily Strom of Dixon, Derek (Kim) Strom of Switzerland, Amber (Brandon) Ballard of Hampshire, and Tyler Strom of Elburn. She also is survived by eight great- grandchildren.The family wishes to thank the staff and friends at Heritage Square for their loving care in recent years. Visitation will be from 3-6 p.m., Saturday afternoon, November 16th, 2013, at Conley Funeral Home, 116 W. Pierce St., Elburn, IL 60119. Funeral services will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in Lily Lake, IL, on Sunday, November 17th at 1:30 p.m., with a brief visitation from 12:30-1:15 p.m. also at the church. Burial will follow at Lily Lake Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be directed to the Rebecca Circle at Grace LutheranChurch at 5N600 Hanson Rd, St. Charles, IL 60175, or Heritage Square at 620 N. Ottawa, Dixon, IL 61021.

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