Elsie E. Albertson

Longtime Homer resident Elsie E. (Irvine) Albertson, 77, died April 18, 2014, at her home in Hillsboro, Ore. Her family said she passed away peacefully.

Elsie was born on June 25, 1936, in Biddle, Mont., to Wilson and Edith (Sams) Irvine. She grew up in Alzada, Mont., and attended grade school there. In 1952, she attended high school at Sturgis Brown High School in Sturgis, S.D. She married Wesley Nelson in 1954 in Sturgis, S.D., graduated from high school and moved to Newell, S.D. She worked for International Harvester Implement Co. for two years before moving to their farm to live and raise chickens, bum lambs and calves.

She moved to Homer in the winter of 1964 with Hans Albertson and her two children, Lyle and Bonnie. In 1968 she began working for Homer Electric Association as a plant accountant, and retired from HEA after 28 years.

Elsie and Hans enjoyed traveling with their motor home and fishing together in the Alaska rivers on the Kenai Peninsula. She helped pack out several moose over the years, smoked and canned salmon and grew a large vegetable garden and berries to freeze for the long winters ahead.

Elsie moved to Hillsboro, Ore., in June 2007 after her husband Hans Albertson passed away on Aug. 22, 2006.

She was an avid quilter and donated hundreds of quilts to charitable organizations. Many family members and friends were recipients of her quilts. She enjoyed gardening, growing flowers, feeding the birds in her yard, listening to country western music and visiting with family and friends.

Elsie was preceded in death by her parents, Wilson Irvine and Edith Walker; husbands, Wesley Nelson and Hans Albertson; brother, Carl Irvine; and step-brother, Norton Walker.

She is survived by her sister, Betty (Irvine) McCollough; half-sister, Glenda Kay (Walker) Sauer; step-brother, Daryl Walker; son, Lyle Albertson; daughter, Bonnie Boyer; grandsons, Benjamyn and Matthew Boyer; and her dog Pebbles.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in her name to Hospice and Palliative Care Partners, 900 SE Oak Street, Suite 202, Hillsboro, OR 97123.