Elsie E. Clear

Elsie E. Clear, 92 year old resident of Upsala, MN passed away Saturday, August 26, 2017 at the Long Prairie Nursing Home. Funeral services were held at 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Upsala, MN with Rev. CJ Boettcher officiating. Burial was in the Gethsemane Lutheran Church Cemetery in Upsala, MN. A
Elsie (Ajax) Clear was born on April 2, 1925 to Nels and Clara Ajax in Upsala, Minnesota. She attended Upsala Area School. Elsie was united in marriage to Robert Clear on December 20, 1942 in Yuma, Arizona. She started her life of employment as a welder in Seattle during WW II, then numerous factories and binderies including, Brown and Bigalow, A.J. Dahl’s and Smyth Company. Elsie retired at one point, but after 6 months, was bored and needed to go back to full-time work. She was then employed at Merrill Corp, driving 70 miles round trip daily and worked the second shift, finally retiring at age 84. Elsie loved to mow the lawn, shovel snow, and shop. She also loved Christmas and it was said, “if it didn’t move, it got decorated.” She was a life long member of Gethsemane Lutheran Church and a member of Upsala Lioness Club.
Elsie is survived by her children, Bob (Shirley) Clear of Holdingford, MN; Gloria (Mike) Pazik of Upsala, MN; Jerry Clear of Ojai, CA; and Don Clear of Swanville, MN; 11 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, 4 great-great grandchildren, and 2 nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert in 1998; grandson, Jeremy Pazik in 2011; and sister and brother-in-law, Arlene and Carl Olson in 1994.