Elaine Ann Ross 87, of Brookings, SD passed away peacefully on Friday, June 6, 2025, at Peaceful Pines Assisted Living, Brookings, SD.
Funeral services have been set for 1 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Brookings, SD. Visitation will be one hour prior to the services at the church. Rude’s Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.
Elaine Ann (Ross) Miller was born on Sept. 30, 1937, in Fergus Falls, MN, to Henry and Ida (Will) Miller. She attended Campbell Public School in Campbell, MN, graduating in 1955. On June 25, 1966, she and Duane Ross were married at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Campbell, MN. At the time of her death, she was a member of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Brookings, SD.
Elaine graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, in 1959 with a major in Elementary Education and a Minor in Music. She continued her education in Special Education at St. Cloud State, Moorhead State and with a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of North Dakota.
Her teaching positions included elementary education in Willows, CA, Columbia Heights, MN, and in Robbinsdale, MN. She began teaching Special Education in Alexandria, MN, in LaMoure County, MD, In Clinton, MN, in Garretson, SD and in Ivanhoe and Hendricks, MN. As an educator she belonged to educational associations in several states and held a variety of offices.
Elaine was a church organist and accompanist for choral groups in several of the communities when she lived. In addition to her music, she always enjoyed sewing, folk art painting and candle making. When she and Duane moved to an acreage near Brookings, she helped manage their small farm with environmentally sound practices. During her 56 years of marriage, she had a variety of “firsts” including bottle feeding calves and day-to-day care of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. She and Duane managed their own bee hives and extracted and stored the honey. On their acreage they planted various varieties of fruit trees, had large garden plots, harvested and canned the produce and made wine.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Duane in 2023, her parents, two brothers and their wives, Russell and Evelyn Miller, Bruce and Lucille Miller; sister-in-law Renae; nieces, Kitty Cline and Diana Allen; and a nephew, Russell Miller Jr.
She is survived by her nieces, Cindi (Jeff) Wallace of Rhinelander, WI and Suzanne Pehl of Wahpeton, ND; her sister-in-law, Wilma (Harris) Richardson and her brother-in-law, Neil (Corrine) Ross and Duane’s nieces and families.
Condolences may be sent to the family through www.rudesfuneralhome.com.
