Eleanor Rafftery

Eleanor Lorine Rafftery, age 82, Fargo, died Monday, January 2, 2006 in Innovis Hospital, Fargo. Eleanor Rafftery was born December 18, 1923, in Ada, MN, to Roy A. and Marie F. (Ramstorf) Olson. She was baptized and confirmed in First Lutheran (Grace) Church and attended both elementary and high school in Ada, graduating in 1941. She immediately made plans to enter the Minnesota School of Business, however, as life would have it, a month after graduation she received an offer of a secretarial position with the Norman County Welfare Office in Ada, where she worked for 3-1/2 years. Eleanor then moved to St. Paul where she continued her secretarial career with Scheuneman?s, Brown and Bigelow, and the Emporium. Eleanor met the love of her life, L. Gerald Rafftery, in St. Paul, and they were married on July 3, 1948. Eleanor and Gerald moved to Fargo in 1950. Eleanor spent a total of 35 years in the secretarial field, the last 24 years with North Dakota Blue Cross, before retiring in 1980. Following her retirement, Eleanor volunteered her services to Dakota Hospital where she served as secretary of the auxiliary board for several years. In March 1986, Eleanor, in partnership with five friends, opened The Crafty Cove, a craft and gift shop in the Holiday Mall in Moorhead. The Crafty Cove was very successful, and Eleanor and her partners operated the gift shop until May 1993. Eleanor was a consummate crafts person?she knitted, crocheted, sewed, cross-stitched, and painted. She also loved playing cards and games of all type and manner, and she thoroughly enjoyed the company of friends and family, good conversation, and doing crossword puzzles. Eleanor was an active member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church for 50 years, and she taught Sunday school at the church for several years. She was also a member of both the American Legion Auxiliary and the National Secretaries Association. Eleanor is survived by her husband, Gerald; a son, Gerry (Cheryl) Rafftery, Maplewood, MN; two daughters, Ellen (James) Tillman, Watertown, SD, and Jan (Jerome) Kahnke, St. Paul, MN; a brother Loren D. (Dora) Olson, Ada; a sister, Betty Kirchmeier, Ada; eight grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. Both her parents, and her sister, Elaine Menge, preceded Eleanor in death. Visitation: Wednesday 7-9 p.m. ? Boulger Funeral Home Prayer Service: Wednesday 8:30 p.m. ? Boulger Funeral Home Funeral: Thursday 1 p.m. -Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 613 16th St. So. Fargo, ND Burial: Riverside Cemetery Memorials preferred to either Bethlehem Lutheran Church or Hospice of the Red River Valley. Arrangements entrusted to Boulger Funeral Home, Fargo, ND Please visit our online guestbook www.boulgerfuneralhome.com