Ellen Marie (Rouse) Heinemann

Born Nov. 22, 1926 in Mondovi, Wash. and died March 16, 2017 in Spokane.

Ellen's primary years were spent at the Mondovi School before the family relocated to Cheney, where she graduated from Cheney High School in 1943. In 1945, she met a young airman from Nebraska stationed at Geiger Field.

On Christmas Eve of that year she married John H. Heinemann in a double wedding with her brother Eugene and his wife, Rose.

For the next 63 years of their married life, she and John kept a home in the Garden Springs area, running their dairy and giving freely of themselves to the community.

For 21 years, from 1961 to 1982, Ellen drove a bus for the Cheney School District, helping countless kids in the Windsor/Marshall area get to school.  

In 1962, following the failure of a school bond issue, Ellen chaired the Alerting Citizens Group for the school district, frequently speaking out at school board meetings.

One of her passions was bowling, and she was inducted into the Spokane Bowling Hall of Fame in 1986.

Ellen was also a proud long-time member of Windsor Grange No. 980, serving in a variety of leadership capacities.

Ellen was preceded in death by her parents, Romyne and Mildred Rouse; her stepmother, Connie Rouse; her husband, John H. Heinemann; her brothers, Eugene Rouse and Ed Rouse; sisters-in-law Rose Rouse and Shirley Rouse and a daughter, Connie Heinemann.  She is survived by her sons, Terry (Nancy) Heinemann and Randy Heinemann; grandchildren, Janet (Shave Cavalin) Heinemann, Paula (Ryan) Grant, Luke (Desiree) Heinemann, Romyne (Caitlin) Heinemann, and Marissa (Joe) Wunderlich; her nephews, Ray (Leanna) Rouse, John (Karma) Rouse, Buddy Rouse, and Kenny Rouse; a sister-in-law, Evelyn Rouse; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Monday, March 27, 2017, 4-8 p.m. at Hazen & Jaeger Funeral Home, 1306 N. Monroe St., Spokane where funeral services will also be held on Tuesday, March 28 at 10 a.m. Burial to follow at the Mondovi Cemetery. Donations to honor Ellen's memory may be made to the Windsor Grange or your local grange hall.

The family would like to give special thanks to Romyne and Caitlin, who opened their home up to Ellen in the last years of her life and allowed her to be surrounded by the family she loved so much.