West, Ellen Elaine Whipple

Ellen Elaine Whipple West, 102 years young, passed away peacefully on Dec. 21, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. Her daughters, Susan and Sandy, were at her side.

Elaine wanted her obituary to include: “She has been there, done that, and now she's gone.”

Elaine was born Aug. 6, 1910, in Vinton, Iowa, the second daughter to Lucien Blaine and Lillian LeFebre Whipple. The family moved often and lived in many places in six states. Elaine attended Jackson Elementary, McKinley Middle School and graduated from Old Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Elaine married Stephen West on Dec. 14, 1941. The couple lived near Mount Vernon and farmed for 54 years on the West family farm.

Beginning in the early 1970s, they spent their winters in San Carlos, Mexico, and later in Tucson. Stephen and Elaine loved to travel and toured Mexico for several months. They also toured the South Pacific and Far East, including Tahiti, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Their daughters remember the wonderful summer trips to Florida, South Dakota, Colorado and Wyoming with Elaine as navigator and tour guide.

Elaine gave of her time to the community by teaching Sunday school and being active in Camp Fire Girls. She was a member of the Friendship Club, Club Eleven and Questors in Mount Vernon. Her interests were many and varied but the project that was closest to her heart was genealogy. Elaine inherited the West and Clingman family histories from her mother-in-law, Bessie Hayden West, and expanded upon them. Elaine and her brother, Blaine, researched the Whipple line.

Survivors include her daughters, Susan West of Mount Vernon and Tucson, Ariz., and Sandra West of Vail, Ariz.; brother, Blaine (Ines) Whipple of Portland, Ore.; sister, Mary Ann (Bill) McPherson of Littleton, Mass.; and many nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were Elaine's parents; stepfather, C.H. Zastera; stepmother, Pearl Whipple; brothers, James and Richard Whipple; sisters, Nancy Jasperson and Pat Drotzman; and son-in-law, John Crandell. Her beloved husband, Stephen, passed away in 1998.

Services will be held in Tucson and Mount Vernon. Dates have not yet been determined. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton.

Morgan Funeral Choices, Mount Vernon, is in charge of arrangements.

A memorial fund has been established.

Online condolencesmay be sent at or cards may be mailed to Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices, 715 10th Ave. SW, Mount Vernon, IA 52314.

Published Dec. 30, 2012 in The Gazette