Elinor Schultz Pinkert

Elinor Schultz Pinkert passed away on March 17 at Oakwood Village , surrounded by her family and many caring hands. Ellie was a Public Health Nurse with the Madison City Health Department from 1973 to her retirement in March 1988. Her warm, easygoing personality and her loving heart will be missed by all who knew her. She was an avid and very patient flower gardener and her rock gardens were a joy to behold. She was also a skilled quilter and knitter, and a very good pianist. Ellie's first trip outside North America was in Spring of 1986, when she accompanied her grandson, Adam, to Varanasi and Agra, India, and Kathmandu, Nepal, chaperoned by her son and daughter-in-law who were studying there. She and her husband Paul later traveled to Switzerland and Germany , to visit family and learn about their cultural heritage. She and Paul also traveled in other parts of Europe, and together they bicycled throughout the Netherlands . Paul and Ellie were enthusiastic about health and fitness, and have been members of the Harbor Club of Madison for many years. Ellie was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 9, 1922, the oldest of four daughters of Clifford and Alvine (Ernst) Schultz. She was raised in Minneapolis and Robbinsdale, Minnesota , attending Robbinsdale High School and the University of Minnesota , where she graduated in nursing with a B.S. in public health. Ellie met her husband, Paul, in a chemistry class at the University of Minnesota. The chemical reaction between them could not be ignored, although it wasn't on the class syllabus. They married on November 22, 1944 in Lincoln, Nebraska, while Paul was on leave from serving as a B-17 pilot in World War 2. After the war Ellie and Paul moved to Ames, Iowa, where Paul enrolled in veterinary medicine at Iowa State University and Ellie worked on the obstetrics floor at Mary Greeley Hospital . Their oldest child, Ted, was born in Ames, Iowa. After Paul's graduation from Iowa State in 1949, the family moved to Pipestone, Minnesota, where Paul went into veterinary practice. Ellie and Paul had two more children while residing in Pipestone, Thomas and Teresa. In 1957 Ellie began work as a public school nurse, and she did this for the next ten years. In 1968 Paul started work with the Department of Agriculture, and Paul's transfer took them to Sioux Falls , South Dakota , where Ellie worked with the Visiting Nurse Service. In August 1973 Paul's job brought them to Madison, Wisconsin, and Ellie was hired that month by the Madison City Health Department, where she worked until 1988. In her career as a nurse, and as a warm and caring friend and confidant, Ellie Pinkert touched many, many lives. Ellie is survived by her husband, Paul; sons Ted (Yin) of Gaston, Oregon, Tom (Susi) of Waikoloa, Hawaii; daughter Teresa (Henry) Ivers of Swampscott, Massachusetts; sisters Jean Leeburg of Anchorage, Alaska, and Virginia Deupner of Eden Prairie, Minnesota; grandsons Adam (Paola) Pinkert of Greenville, North Carolina, Vincent Pinkert of Tacoma, Washington, and grand daughter Eliana Pinkert of Gaston, Oregon; and many, many nieces, nephews, cousins, and their children. Elinor is predeceased by her parents and by her sister, Margery DeVaney. A Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 11:00 a. m.  at the OAKWOOD VILLAGE RESURRECTION CHAPEL , 6201 Mineral Point Road,  conducted by Bethel Lutheran Church and Oakwood Chaplains. All memorials may be given to the Alzheimer's Association of South Central Wisconsin, or the Bethel Endowment Foundation.