Eleanor Jane Mazourek

Eleanor Jane (Kolda) Mazourek, 84, died peacefully early Monday morning, March 11^th at Neillsville Care and Rehab with family by her side.

Eleanor was born March 30, 1934, in Tabor, South Dakota, to Harry and Margaret (Koupal) Kolda.   Her father died when she was 3-years-old. Eleanor and her mother moved in with her grandparents Joseph and Mary Koupal.  They resided there until her mother married Francis Shaw, who was also a widower. The two families joined and became a blended family of seven and eventually a family of eleven.

She attended school in Tabor, South Dakota. She met her future husband at a school play that she was in.  After graduation she worked as a nanny/housekeeper. She was united in marriage on August 20, 1951 to Adolph Mazourek. After Adolph was discharged from the Army, they started farming near Tabor.  In the spring of 1958 they moved to Clark County, where they had purchased a farm in Shortville.

Adolph and Eleanor raised their five children on their dairy farm.  While the kids were growing up, Eleanor helped out on the farm and ran the household. She also worked at the Neillsville nursing home as an aide. 

She was an avid seamstress and quilter, enjoyed collecting fabric, watching birds, gardening, listening to polka music, spending time with family and friends. She often went back to South Dakota to visit many relatives and to see her childhood home, which had been the first school house in Tabor and is now a museum. She was a wonderful cook, loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

She belonged to: Washburn Homemakers, TOPS club, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and often helped on election days in the township of Washburn.

She will be missed by her five children, Linda (Robert) Canfield, Marshfield; Deborah (Richard) Vine, Granton; Tammy (Paul Sanders) Karlen, St. Francis, MN; Donna (Mike) Kuester, Neillsville; and Mark (Julie) Mazourek, Rice Lake. Sixteen grandchildren Steven (Loretta) Canfield, Ann Krummel, Becky Canfield, Sarah (John) Truetel, Amy (Marty) Gerhardt, Donald Vine, Travis (Ashley) Vine, Andrew (Melissa) Vine, Nikki Karlen, Kaila (Jerry) Hlava, Jon Kuester, David Kuester, Ryan Kuester, Adam Mazourek, Jacob Mazourek, Rachel Mazourek and 23 great grandchildren. Brothers Duane (Lillian) Shaw, San Antonio TX; Donald Shaw, Las Cruces, NM; Bonnie Shaw, Neillsville; Leonard (Myrna) Shaw, Vesper; Kenneth (Ramona) Shaw, Eagle; Dan (Jean) Shaw, Gilbert, AZ; Dave (Linda) Shaw, Mukwonago; brothers-in-law Ben Mazourek, Martin (Joan) Mazourek,  sisters-in-law Leona Cwach, Priscilla Mazourek and Mary Tielke all in Yankton, SD; Peggy Mazourek Cottonwood, CA.

She was preceded in death by her husband Adolph Mazourek, her parents Harry Kolda, Margret Shaw and step-father Francis Shaw, mother-in-law Tonie Mazourek, sister Delores Vitek, sister-in-law Shirley Shaw, brother Richard Shaw, brothers-in-law Frank Mazourek, Theodore Mazourek, Luvern Cwach, Vincent Tielke and Arnold Vitek.

Sincere and heartfelt thanks are extended to the wonderful staff at Neillsville Care and Rehab and Ministry Hospice team. Eleanor's family will be forever indebted to them for all the loving care with which they blessed her.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, July 13, 2019 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Neillsville. The Celebrant will be Rev. Varkey V. Joseph. Visitation will be from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m., Saturday, July 13^th  at St. Mary's Catholic Church.