Elizabeth Bellas

Elizabeth Helen Bellas, 99 of Schofield, WI, passed away August 22, 2017 at Ministry St. Clare Hospital from complications relating to a recent fall. Family members were at her bedside in her final moments, just two days before her 100th birthday. Elizabeth was born on August 24, 1917 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, to Arthur and Hattie Church who preceded her in death. Elizabeth was a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants. Her family ancestry has been traced back to Richard Warren, a Mayflower passenger and one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. Her ancestral family members were early settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, with later migration west to the Wisconsin territory, settling in the Milwaukee area in the 1840's. It was in this area that her parents met and married in 1912. The family including two sisters and a brother moved to Whitewater from the Milwaukee area where she attended middle school and high school and then graduated from Whitewater State Teachers College (now UW-Whitewater) with a degree in Primary Education; she was a member of the Alpha Sigma Sorority. She taught 1st grade in Waukesha from 1938-41. Elizabeth married Harold Bellas on June 21, 1941, at the First Congregational Church in Whitewater. They moved to Bloomer where Harold taught business education until early 1942 when he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. He was stationed at Ladd Field in Fairbanks, AL, until 1945. Elizabeth spent the war years on the family farm near Whitewater with son James. Following Harold's discharge from military service the family of three moved to Wausau where Harold began teaching in the Business Education Department at Wausau High School. Second son Gerald soon followed and Elizabeth then threw her energies into raising her two sons. The family joined the First United Methodist Church in 1948 where Elizabeth and Harold were long-standing active members. Elizabeth was actively involved in Women's Society events and activities for over 65 years. She was instrumental in organizing workshops that made decorations for fall bazaar sales, subsequent holiday events and other special church-related occasions. Her superb floral arrangements and imaginative table decorations always drew praise from church members and visitors alike. Over the years nearly every one of her masterfully hand-crafted table decorations were sold to benefit the church. The hours and hours of innovative and imaginative work behind the scenes, often involving Harold's shop skills, were forever a joy to her with the collaborative results always being stunning. Elizabeth continued to make highly crafted multiples of unique Xmas ornaments until recently. In later years their Xmas tree was entirely covered with wonderful ornaments that she had hand crafted. Now hundreds of ornaments adorn extended family and friends' holiday trees. Making and giving these ornaments as gifts always gave her great joy. Elizabeth was also a long-time member of the Home Garden Club of Wausau where she won many blue ribbons and several best of show awards for her beautifully original floral arrangements at district garden club events. Her creative arrangements using various pine cones collected from travels around the country always received rave reviews and often special recognition. She was also a long-time member of the Wisconsin Retired Teachers Association. She enjoyed and was very skilled at a variety of traditional hand crafts, including sewing, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, and patchwork quilting that she had learned from her mother. She made clothing, sewed curtains and drapes using both new and vintage fabrics, and did upholstery on chairs that Harold had refinished. Her hand stitching was of the highest quality. She also enjoyed watercolor painting, clay sculpture and wood carving. She truly treasured long conversations with extended family and friends, and her life memory was exceptionally sharp up until the end, especially her recollection of family history. She was a remarkable, sharing person with wonderful creative insight. And, she was amazingly independent in the years following Harold's death. Elizabeth is survived by two sons, James (Jill), of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and Gerald, of Cincinnati, Ohio, granddaughter Julie, also of West Chester, great grandchildren Drew Reading, Pa and Stacey (Luke Rogers) of San Diego, CA. She is also survived by three nephews and four nieces, as well as a large number of grandnieces and nephews. Elizabeth is preceded in death by her husband Harold, sisters Julia Hahn and Harriet Batchelet and brother Charles Church. A Funeral Service will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at Restlawn Memorial Park, 4710 N Troy St, Wausau. Visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. until the time of services at Restlawn. Entombment will follow at Restlawn Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to the D.C. Everest Multi-Age Elementary School. Brainard Funeral Home and Cremation Center - Everest Chapel is assisting the family with arrangements.