Eldora "Elly" J. (Ballard) Hoague

     Eldora “Elly” J. Hoague, 92, passed away peacefully with her loved ones by her side on April 1, 2024, at Aspirus Hospice House in Wausau, where she spent the last week of her life. Elly resided in beautiful Sturgeon Bay, Door County, WI for most of her married life. In 2020, she moved to Merrill and lived with her daughter Cindy and son-in-law Bob. Elly enjoyed four years of life in Merrill, seeing her grandchildren, their spouses and great-grandchildren often.

     Eldora was born November 4, 1931, at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, WI to George and Dorothy (Ell) Ballard. She graduated from Appleton West High School in 1949, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in art education. It was there that one day she took a phone call meant for another lady and ended up meeting her future husband, Raymond. They were married June 21, 1952, and began their life together in Ellsworth, WI where Ray was employed with the Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. In 1954, Ray and Elly (as she was known by family and friends) moved to Sturgeon Bay where Ray took a similar position in Door County. They enjoyed a wonderful 53-year marriage with three children, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

     Elly was a devoted wife and mother with a strong Christian faith. She was compassionate, kind, and often quiet, but exhibited her love and faith through acts of service, words of encouragement, and prayer. Elly was an active member of the Sturgeon Bay United Methodist Church for 65 years. She was a steadfast member of the church choir, taught Sunday school, joined with others in Bible study, helped prepare the annual Church Lumberjack Supper and Thanksgiving meals offered to the community and many other ways to spread Christ’s love and serve Him and those around her. Elly shared her faith, friendship, and talents by taking part in many short-term mission trips with her husband to Montana, South Carolina, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Guatemala. Her favorite trip was to Israel to see all the holy sites. She helped families realize the joy of home ownership with support to Habitat for Humanity, assisting in the construction of 13 homes not only in Door County but also Green Bay and Janesville WI, Moline, IL, and Lafayette, IN. She gave of her time and energy to the Feed My People/Clothe My People organization. Elly also was a Board member of the “Sunshine House” in Sturgeon Bay for many years, an organization that supports and serves people with disabilities.

     Elly’s compassion and love was showered on children especially those with disabilities throughout her 21-year career, first at Cherry School in Sturgeon Bay, then at Southern Door High School and finally at Sevastopol High School, where she retired in 1993. Elly and Ray shared the love of gardening, especially in the last home they would own together, where a huge backyard was carefully planned and terraced to blend many flower varieties with stones and driftwood collected from across Door County to provide a peaceful, beautiful place for many to visit, sit a while, and enjoy their handiwork and God's creation. Elly and Ray had many other interests - classical music with trips to concerts in Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Interlochen, MI and Tanglewood, MA. They loved to bike the miles of many different Wisconsin trails, carefully logging each trip to complete each trail's entire length. Camping throughout Wisconsin and across the US began when the children were young and shared with extended family to provide simple enjoyment together and lasting memories. Elly loved her grandchildren, always having crafts or cooking to engage with them and hear about their lives. Elly loved cardinals and owls and her home was always filled with reminders of these beautiful birds. She said water was always special to her. Growing up, she fondly remembered canoeing with her parents on the Fox River. Spending most of her life in Sturgeon Bay, she loved all the beauty of Door County waters. Trips to visit children and their family offered views of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. Many visits to her parents’ retirement home on Chain of Lakes in Waupaca provided enjoyable times and memories of fun on those lakes.

     Eldora is survived by her daughter, Cindy (Robert) Klessig of Merrill; son, Mark Hoague of Panama City, FL; seven grandchildren, Kimberly (Jay) Whitaker, Lindsay (Luke) Savage, Ryan (Rebecca) Klessig, Nicole Hoague, Rachel Hoague, Emily (Adam) Duncan and Kerri (Kenny) Swanberg; eight great-grandchildren; one sister, Nancy Schwemin of Appleton.

     She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Raymond; and son, David.

     A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 11, 2024, at the United Methodist Church in Sturgeon Bay with Pastor Leistra officiating. Visitation from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., service at 11:00 a.m., and luncheon following service. Burial will be at Schumacher Cemetery for the family at 2:30 p.m.

     Donations to Eldora’s memory may be made to the Sturgeon Bay United Methodist Church for the David Hoague College Scholarship Fund or other church memorials.

     We'd like to thank Mom's home hospice team (Jenn, Courtney and Jen) from Aspirus Home Hospice for helping care for our Mom at our home in Merrill for the past few years. Also, great thanks to the Aspirus Hospice House in Wausau for lovingly caring for our Mom the last week of her life.

     Elly was thankful for many things in her life, but especially for her Christian faith, which began with her parents leading, and then grew when she met Ray and he became a spiritual leader of their home, their active participation in worship and study in the United Methodist Church, and special friends like Rosemary Hintz and Ann Stannard who encouraged daily prayer and quiet time. Elly relied on Jesus Christ for life's joys, challenges, direction and purpose. She enters God's presence singing with faith and confidence in the redeeming faith provided by her Savior, Jesus Christ.

     Huehns Funeral Home of Sturgeon Bay is assisting the family. Expressions of sympathy, memories, and photos of Elly may be shared with her family through her tribute page at www.huehnsfuneralhome.com.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Eldora "Elly" J. (Ballard) Hoague, please visit our floral store.