Eleanor R. Kinkelaar (91) of Effingham

Eleanor R. Kinkelaar, 91, of Effingham, IL, passed away Tuesday morning, October 22, 2019 at Heartland Senior Living LLC in Neoga, IL.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday, October 28 at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church in Green Creek. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, rural Effingham (Green Creek). A combined Catholic Daughters of the Americas and CCW Rosary will be at 4:00 p.m. with visitation to follow from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, October 27, all at Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham.

Memorials may be made to Sacred Heart Church or School and Fear Nothing. Online condolences may be shared by clicking here. 

Eleanor was born on December 17, 1927, in Effingham County, IL, the daughter of Joseph and Caroline (Probst) Beckman. She married Louis E. Kinkelaar on January 6, 1945. He preceded her in death on August 18, 2007.

Eleanor worked at M. Snower Company which was later changed to Whitehouse Manufacturing Company in Teutopolis, IL. She was a bookkeeper for North End DX (her husband’s station), and a homemaker. Eleanor was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Effingham, Catholic Daughters of the Americas, and the Council of Catholic Women. She had a love for crocheting, quilting, and flower gardening, but most of all a love for her family.

Survivors include sons, Richard (Pauline) Kinkelaar and Gerald (Susan) Kinkelaar both of Effingham; daughters, Alice (Lovell) Wines of Effingham and Margaret (Alan) Goebel of Montrose; 15 grandchildren;               25 great-grandchildren; brothers, Clarence (Mary Louise) Beckman, Donald Beckman, and Joseph (Wilma) Beckman all of Teutopolis; sister, Louise (Jerome) Pruemer of Shelbyville; and sister-in-law, Pauline Repking of Effingham.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; son, William “Bill” Kinkelaar; brother, Gerald; and sisters, Gertrude Overbeck, Marie Grunloh, Dolores Bierman, and Adele Niebrugge.