Obituary of Dorothy Elk

Dorothy G. (DeLancey) Elk, 91, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, died Monday, September 5, 2011, at home with her family. Born September 25, 1919, in Blue Island, Illinois, she was the daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth Dix. She moved with her family as a child to Waukegan, Il. where she graduated from Waukegan, Township High School. She lived in Waukegan until 2003 when she moved to Kenosha. Dorothy married her high school sweetheart, Robert W. DeLancey on December 26, 1942. They were the proud parents of daughter Marilyn and son Brian. In addition to being a mother and homemaker, Dorothy worked as a seamstress at Lanathan's Ladies Wear, as a proofreader at North Shore Printers and in the Diagnostics Division at Abbott Laboratories until her retirement in the early 1980's. She was involved in her church as well, having worked as Sacristan at St. Anastasia Church, in Waukegan; and in the St. Mark's Christian Women's Group, in Kenosha. She was a member of the Lake County Women's Management Organization and the Zion-Benton Women of the Moose. Dorothy had many pastimes, including woodcarving, pyrography, quilting, oil painting, reading, crossword puzzles, golf, and listening to Big Band music. She loved traveling especially frequent trips to Door County and her trip to Ireland with her sister-in-law, Evelyn Kowerski, of Fond du Lac. Dorothy is survived by her daughter Marilyn A. Smith, son Brian R. (Patricia) DeLancey granddaughter Erin C. (Brent) Barnlund, and great-grandchildren Savannah Lou & Aiden Brian Barnlund, all of Kenosha. She is also survived by sister-in-law Betty (George) Dix and several nieces and nephews as well as significant others in her life, Candie, Caryn, Carla, Cheryl and Crystal and their families. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert W. DeLancey, in 1975 and second husband Ernest Elk in 1987, her parents Fred & Elizabeth Dix, sister Lee Grams, brothers, Fred, Robert, and George Dix, and brother-in-law and sister-in-law Ed and Evelyn Kowerski. Visitation will be from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 8th at Congdon Funeral Home, 3012 Sheridan Road, Zion, Illinois. Visitation will also be held on Friday Sept. 9th from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at St. Mark the Evangelist Parish 7117 14th Avenue, Kenosha, with A Mass of Christian Burial immediately following at 11:00 a.m. Interment will be private for the family. Memorials in Dorothy's name may be made to the Hospice Alliance, Pleasant Prairie , Wisconsin, or St. Mark the Evangelist Parish, Kenosha, Wisconsin. A special thank you to all the wonderful people at Hospice Alliance and Dr. A. J. Capelli and the staff of Aurora Medical.