Mabel Lee Egley Van Ausdall, 94, passed away peacefully and entered the gates of Heaven with her daughter by her side on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at the Montrose Health Center in Montrose, Iowa.
Mabel was born on November 9th on a farm in rural Alexandria, Missouri, the daughter and 8th child of James Edward and Ruth Ada Woods Egley. She attended Pleasant Hill Rural Grade School where she played basketball and graduated valedictorian of her class. After high school, Mabel moved to Keokuk, Iowa, and lived in an apartment on Franklin Street. She worked as a secretary at Thomas Truck and Caster Company and the Hubinger Company. Her nieces Pauline and Colleen remember and admired her as a beautiful lady who was dressed to perfection with heels, painted nails, pretty clothes and hair who walked to work and to their mother’s (sister Mary Ellen) house on Timea Street for lunch many times. At age twenty-four she married the love of her life Max Harvey Van Ausdall on September 12, 1954, in Carthage, Illinois. They were introduced on a blind date by a friend and co-worker who was married to Max’s brother Jack. These two couples were quite the perfect pairs and went on to be married happily for many years. Max and Mabel lived on a farm in rural Warsaw with Jack and Betty living down the highway a few miles. Max raised harness horses (which was a Van Ausdall family tradition) and Mabel supported and took great pride in her husband’s business.
Mabel was a devoted and loving wife and mother who went on to care for her husband for seventeen years after being diagnosed with the debilitating disease MS. She was a strong, patient and kind woman, never complaining about the trials she was given and who rarely left his side. She was a wonderful cook who made delicious pies, soups and meals, always making Max’s favorites. They enjoyed watching game shows and baseball with the rivalry of Mabel for the Cardinals and Max for the Cubs. The most special enjoyment they had was watching their only granddaughter Tea Ann grow up through her toddler and young years. That little child was certainly the light of their lives through the most difficult days of their lives.
Mabel also greatly enjoyed reading many books and music of all kinds and was blessed with the talent of playing the piano and organ by ear and with music. She had written down that her sister Eliza had taught her how to play the piano when she was young. Mabel also loved animals and had many special dogs and cats over the years. Mabel was a firm believer in God and always kept the faith. She was a fifty-year member of the Bethel Presbyterian Church where she was a deacon and taught Sunday School. She was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the American Legion.
After the passing of her husband, Mabel met a special friend Ed Mekemsom who doted on her and they enjoyed dining out and dancing at the VFW for several years. During these years she was also a wonderful caregiver and sat privately for people in their homes. In 2005, her own health issues began and she first was a resident at Montebello Health Care Center in Hamilton, then in 2007 moved to Montrose Health Center, where she resided for seventeen years. She was a very special resident and loved by all. She enjoyed playing Bingo and the piano until she no longer could.
Mabel adored her immediate family and was so proud of them. They survived her as follows. Daughter and son-in-law Marilyn Rae and Randy Valentine of Nauvoo, Illinois; granddaughter and husband Tea Ann and Jason Cameron; and great-grandsons Vance Lee and Vaughn Lane Cameron, all of Warsaw, Illinois. Mabel is also survived by many special nieces, nephews and cousins who she thought so much of as they did her. Mabel was the last living family member of her and Max’s generation.Mabel was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters: Bertha (Dick) Hulsebus, Mary Ellen (Roy) Gibson, Willa (Maurice) Trask, Eliza Evans and Beulah (at four years old); and four brothers: Edward (Gen), Robert (Wilma), Henry (Opal and Ruth) and Glen Wayne (Doreen), who died at age thirty-five. Also preceding her in death were brothers and sisters-in-law Esther (Jim) Gray, Kenneth (Marge) Van Ausdall, Lloyd (Lucille) Van Ausdall, Arnold (Genevieve) Van Ausdall, Pete (Ann) Van Ausdall, Junior (Lucille and Emma) Van Ausdall, Virginia (Gene) Swagel and Jack (Betty) Van Ausdall; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services will be held at 11 am on Friday, October 4, 2024, at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, with burial to follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Hamilton. Visitation will be held on Friday from 10 to 11 am at the church directly before the service.
Memorials may be directed to Bethel Presbyterian Church in Hamilton.
Tributes and condolences may be left at www.printyfuneralhome.com.
Printy Funeral Home of Hamilton is in charge of arrangements.
