Elsa D. Allison

Elsa D. Allison, 86, joined the Heavenly choir August 26, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 59 years, George K. Allison of Anderson and her daughters, Susan C. Welty (husband Mark) of Broken Arrow, OK and Jennifer of San Francisco, CA. She is also survived by her grandchildren Emily (Welty) Pastrana, Allison (Welty) Aguilar and Andrew D. Welty and her great granddaughter, Eva Pastrana. Also surviving is her nephew, William J. Allison, Jr, (wife Mary) and grandniece Berkeley of Scottsdale, AZ and niece, Gayle (Allison) Donlon (husband Gerard) of AL and grandnephew Robert Donlon and grandniece Maureen Donlon both in the US Navy.

She was born November 19, 1928 in Chicago, IL the only child of the late Anders Torsfelt and wife Hilma (Olsson) Torsfelt, who emigrated to the U.S. from Sweden in the 1920s. As a child, Elsa spoke Swedish until she enrolled in Chicago Public Schools.

She will miss her weekly get-togethers with special friends Doris Millikan, Myrtle Sczesny and Haskell Counts.

Elsa was always attracted to choral music. As a teen, she joined the junior choir at St. James Methodist Church in Chicago. She continued singing in various Methodist church choirs throughout her adult life. She finally “retired” from the choir at First United Methodist Church in Anderson when she reached her 80th birthday.

In addition to her choir work, Elsa was a regular volunteer at the Anderson Center for the Arts.
She was also active in the Lady Elks Lodge 209.

Throughout her married life, Elsa made a caring and loving home for many pet cats, some from championship stock and some rescued strays. No matter the breed or color, she always had a cat near her, frequently on her lap.

She was a member of the Kentuckiana A.C.F.A. Cat Club of Louisville, KY. She always attended and enjoyed assisting them at their annual Championship Cat Show at the Kentucky Fair Grounds.

There will be visitation for family and friends on Monday, Aug. 31 from 4 pm to 8 pm at Brown- Butz-Diedring Funeral Service & Crematory. The memorial service will be conducted by the Rev. Donna Goings at the funeral home Tuesday, Sept 1 at 11:00 am. Interment at Maplewood Cemetery will be at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Madison County Humane Society or First United Methodist Church of Anderson will be appreciated.