Lemoyne Ellsworth Ellingson, 77,

died on Thursday, April 17, 2003 at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa, Mason City, Iowa.

Memorial service and celebration of his life will be held at the Elks Club, 1811 SE Broadway, Albert Lea on Saturday, April 26, 2003 at 10:30 a.m.

Lunch will follow.

Lem was born at home on the farm one mile west of Northwood, on April 24, 1925, the fifth child of John B. Ellingson and Barbara O. (Espedokken) Ellingson. He graduated from Northwood High School in 1943. While a senior, he enlisted in the Navy V-5 Program and learned to fly in open-cockpit planes in the winter at Glenview, Ill. Serving as a Naval aviator, he flew off aircraft carriers in the Pacific theater and taught many Navy pilots to fly. He was in the first jet training unit the Navy had; JTU-1. He learned to fly the F-80 Shooting Star. It was a single-place airplane, so when the student went up for the first time, he was alone. Lem then taught other Navy pilots to fly this airplane. He was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant in 1950 and returned to Northwood to farm. He married Jean Alice Taylor and they have two daughters, Pamela Wallace and Kimberly Kotur and three grandsons; Ted Koerselman, Daniel and Michael Kotur.

Lem loved to farm, and always marveled at how Mother Nature made the corn grow and the new calves frolic happily in the pasture. In 1967 while continuing farming, Lem went back to flying, recertifying as a private, instrument and commercial flight instructor. He taught flying out on a grass strip in Northwood until his death. He taught his wife, Jean, to fly, and helped more than 100 students earn their private, instrument and commercial pilot’s licenses. His calm, hands-on, individual instruction will be remembered by numerous students, some of whom have gone on to fly for airlines, and as corporate pilots. Lem and Jean were members of many organizations nationwide, including the Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association, the 99’s (an organizations of women pilots), the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elk’s Lodge and Northwood United Methodist Church. He had a beautiful tenor voice and was known for singing “Messiah” in numerous choirs.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Jean Taylor Ellingson of Northwood; daughters Pamela Wallace (Scott), of Lafayette, Colo. and Kimberly E. Kotur (Mel) of Bozeman, Mont.; three grandsons, Ted Koerselman, Daniel and Michael Kotur; his sister June Hermanson of Colton, Calif., nieces and nephews and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Hiram Ellingson, sister Crystle Nelson, and Kristine Noble Helgeland.

Lem had an excellent quality of life despite his 3 1/2-year illness with a rare form of myelodyspastic anemia and died suddenly of pneumonia.

The family suggests memorials be directed to Mercy Cancer Center or Critical Care Unit, 1000 4th St. SW, Mason City, Iowa 50456; The Blood Center of Iowa, 431 E. Locust, Des Moines, Iowa 50309 Attn: Stacy Sime; or The National Museum of Naval Aviation, 1750 Radford Blvd, Suite B, N.S.A., Pensacola, Fla. 32508.

Schroeder & Sites Funeral Home of Northwood is in charge of arrangements.