Service of Remembrance for Eleanor M. Walch, 94, of Hettinger, ND will be Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hettinger Lutheran Church. Rev. Kathleen Dettmann will officiate and burial will follow at the Hettinger Cemetery. Visitations will be from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Hettinger on Wednesday, January 9 and one hour prior to the funeral at the church on Thursday morning. A Family service will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Hettinger Lutheran Church on Wednesday evening.

Eleanor M. Erickson was born June 3, 1913 in a sod house on a farm about twenty miles north of Hettinger. She was the third of six children born to Edwin and Marie (Goplen) Erickson, both of whom had homesteaded in that area. She grew up doing the work farm kids do…milking cows, feeding chickens, weeding gardens and gathering eggs. After grade school, she went to work as a waitress at Ramstead Café in Hettinger where her sister, Sigrid, was the cook. She made five dollars a week, saving her money to make the trip to Fargo to attend the Chicago Hairdressing Academy in 1935. Eleanor graduated on July 3, 1936 and worked in Oakes, ND as a hairdresser to gain the experience to open her own shop. She was overworked and underpaid but finally made enough money for her to get back to Fargo where her dad picked her up and took her back to Hettinger. Eleanor and Millie Overbee opened the Hettinger Beauty Emporium, which they operated for about six years.


Eleanor married Howard Walch from Bucyrus in Las Vegas on February 7, 1942. They made their home in Long Beach, California where she again worked as a beautician. They had one son, Wayne, when Howard joined the Army being deployed to Europe during World War II. The day Russell was born, she received word that Howard had been wounded and hospitalized…a tough day. Shortly thereafter, she packed up their belongings and her two sons and boarded the train to Hettinger – a trip that back then took three days and nights but was made bearable with all the helpful passengers who pitched in caring for the boys. Not long after, Howard returned from the war and they farmed south of Bucyrus for ten years before moving to Hettinger. Howard went into trucking and Eleanor worked as a beautician before she and Bobbi Engraf opened a beauty shop together, naming it the Charm Salon. She remembers one lady telling her, "I get more than a haircut at your shop…I get a good feeling". Eleanor said that was the best compliment she had ever received.


Bobbie sold her share of the business to Eleanor's son, Dennis. Through this mother/son partnership, Dennis learned the business of cosmetology continuing on to build a beauty shop empire in the Metro-Minneapolis area. At the age of seventy three, she sold the Charm Salon to Holly Wyman and Arlinda Seamands.


Eleanor often said she was richer than a millionaire because of her family and health. She retired but continued to do volunteer hairdressing at Hillcrest Care Center and also volunteer work at the Clothes Closet. Eleanor was an active member of Hettinger Lutheran Church, WELCA, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, Hospital Auxiliary, and past member of B.P.W.


On November 19, 1986 her husband of 44 years, Howard, passed away. She continued to live in her own home until 2004 during which time she helped her daughter, Connie,launch "Blonde's Catering". She was well known for her apple bars and fried chicken. Eleanor entered Hillcrest Care Center on July 28, 2004 and passed away there on January 3, 2008.


She was met in Heaven by husband Howard, parents Edwin and Marie, brothers and sisters-in-law Adolf, Lloyd and Norma Erickson, Mayme Erickson; sisters and brothers-in-law Sigrid and Arvid Olson, Deborah and Ole Olson, Aleda and Alan Lacy, and son-in-law Vern Score.


She will be deeply missed by her children Wayne (Bonnie), Ballwin MO, Russell (Arlene), Hettinger ND, Dennis (Luella), Punta Gorda FL, Donna (Nick) Schaff, Scranton ND, Connie, Hettinger, and Gloria Score, Priest River ID; ten grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren; brother Andrew, sisters-in-law and brother-in-law Ginny and Duane Siewart, Ann Walch, special cousin Arly Goplen, and many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.


Family requests in lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Hettinger Lutheran Church Elevator Fund or the West River Regional Medical Center Foundation.