Elene Shjeflo

Funeral services for Elene (Whitney) Shjeflo, 91, of Dickinson, ND will be 1:00 pm Tuesday December 14, 2010 at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson with Pastor Lisa Lewton officiating. Burial will take place in the Dickinson Cemetery. Visitation will be from 10:30 a. m. until service time on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at Stevenson Funeral Home. Elene Nadine (Whitney) Shjeflo, age 91, passed from this life on December 7, 2010 at St. Benedict?s Health Center. She was born to Frank Whitney and Esther (Boehlke) Whitney on June 25, 1919 in Dickinson, North Dakota. She grew up in Dickinson. As a young woman, she was an accomplished artist in all mediums including pottery. After graduating from Dickinson High School, she went on to study art as Dickinson State and the University Of North Dakota, where she was a part of the ?UND School of Mines? arts program. She was initiated in the Alpha Phi Sorority and Delta Phi Delta Honorary Arts Fraternity. In 1934 while still a student, she met the love of her life, Al Shjeflo of the Halliday/Killdeer area. After a six year courtship and Al?s graduation with a civil engineering degree from UND, they married in the home of the bride?s parents on December 28th, 1940. The newlyweds moved to Redding, California where Al was the Field Engineer with the Army Corp of Engineers building Shasta Dam. After that project, Elene and Al returned to Dickinson, North Dakota, where Al became the manager of the West Plains Electric R. E. C. Three children were born to the union, Marjorie, Suzanne, and John. Elene and her husband Al were longtime members of St. John?s Lutheran Church. A popular and talented cook and hostess, she was a member of the Dorcas Society, active in the Campfire Girls annual musical productions and many charitable and volunteer pursuits. Elene had a passion for gardening, knitting, sewing, painting and many other expressions of her talents. Her greatest love was family. She will be remembered as a devoted mother and grandmother, and loving and committed wife. Elene and Al celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary in 2007. Elene is survived by daughter Marjorie Humphreys and husband Brad of Elizabethtown, KY; daughter Suzanne Vanvig, granddaughter Julie Vanvig-Burnell, her husband Mike and great-grandsons Dylan and Jared; grandson Douglas Vanvig, his wife Nicole, great-grandchildren Courtney, Sara, Avery, Kaitlynn and Axel all of Ozark, MO; a son, John Shjeflo, granddaughter Erica Shjeflo and great-granddaughter Isabella, granddaughter Nicole Shjeflo and great-grandson Cyrus, all of Tulsa, Ok; granddaughter Corrine Zastoupil of Billings, MT; great-granddaughter Shaina Clingingsmith, her husband Ian and great-great granddaughter Ianna of Dickinson. She is also survived by her sister, Patricia Swaney of Novato, CA, and an aunt Drucilla (Boehlke) Anderson of Greshman, OR. Elene will be remembered fondly by many nieces and nephews. Elene was preceded in death by her husband Alton, her parents Frank and Esther Whitney, her brother John Kimble Whitney and sister Marjorie May Whitney, brother-in-law Roy Swaney, son-in-law Bill Vanvig, grandson Cole Shjeflo and great-granddaughter Austin Vanvig. To all who mourn her, ?What the heart once owned and had, it shall never lose. ?


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Burial Date: December 14, 2010
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral Service: Tuesday, Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson, ND