Alvera Frieda Louise Darelius

Alvera Frieda Louise (Jansen) Darelius, 87, of La Crescent, passed away on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, at the Onalaska Care Center, Onalaska.
She was born on February 3, 1928, on the family farm in Madison County, Nebraska, the daughter of Theodore G. and Helena A. (Schilling) Jansen. She attended grade school in Nebraska until the age of seven when her family moved to La Crescent, where she completed grade school and Junior High at Longfellow in La Crosse, before graduating from La Crosse Central High School.
Alvera was seventeen and a waitress at the Commodore Club in La Crescent when she first met twenty-two year old Jerome “Jerry” Darelius, a Navy man home on leave. They corresponded for about four years before getting married in La Crescent on August 6, 1949. She was a Navy wife for the next eleven years, (1949 to 1960), where she, her husband and four children lived on naval bases in Oakland, Cal., Norfolk, Va., and Great Lakes, Ill. Following her husband’s retirement from the Navy, the family moved back to La Crescent. Alvera then worked as a telephone operator for a total of 28 years with Century Telephone Co. in La Crosse.
Alvera enjoyed sewing, knitting, bowling, golf, reading and traveling in their motor home when she and her husband spent part of their retirement years as “snow birds”; returning every year to Texas, where they enjoyed seeing all of their winter friends. She was a long-time member of First Ev. Lutheran Church in La Crescent where she was active in the Ladies Aid. She was also a member of the La Crescent American Legion Auxiliary.
Alvera is survived by her children, Christine (Charles Michael) Cowan of Waunakee, Wis., Douglas (Susan) Darelius of La Crosse, and Alan (Ruth) Darelius of Maroa, Ill.; ten grandchildren; fifteen great grandchildren; a sister, Helen Gilbertson; and numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Jerry, in 1990; a son, Bruce, in 1999; a grandson, Jonathan, in 1981; a sister, Verena Morgan; a brother, Arthur Jansen; and numerous other relatives.
Funeral services will be held at 3:00 P.M., Friday, May 15th, at First Ev. Lutheran Church in La Crescent. Pastor Chris Christenson will officiate. Burial will follow in Prospect Hill Cemetery, La Crescent. Family and friends may call from 2:00 p.m. until the time of service on Friday at the church. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to First Lutheran Church in La Crescent.