Date of Birth: March 31, 1943
Date of Death: May 31, 2026
Elaine Katherine (Engel) Els was born on March 31, 1943 in Yorkton, SK to Edwin and Emilie (Mehling) Engel. Elaine was baptised and confirmed in the Lutheran Faith at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stornoway, SK.
Elaine attended Stornoway School, and her childhood and youth were spent helping care for her mother, as well as being her dad’s right-hand gal on the farm. She recalled recently how she had to haul 5-gallon pails of water to the newly planted shelterbelt (for anyone who knows the farm, many trees were involved). She helped with the horses, the cows, planting of the land, and getting her sisters safely to school by a team of horses. Elaine did it all at a young age.
In 1962, Elaine met her soul mate, Kenneth Els, and they were united in marriage on July 3, 1964.
After marriage, Elaine relocated briefly and worked as camp cook in Northern Alberta where Ken worked on road construction. Elaine told many stories of that period of time; her favourite was how she went up north to accompany Ken and then was asked to become head cook without prior notice. With no cookbook at hand, she had to figure out meals with the grocery items set before her. Knowing Elaine, she cooked for these men like it was a 5-star restaurant!
Shortly thereafter in 1965, Ken and Elaine moved to Togo where they co-owned a cattle ranch, along with brothers-in-law Rudy and Gordon. It was here in Togo where Elaine and Ken’s three children were born, Shelley, Greg and Carmen.
In 1972, Elaine’s parents decided to retire to Yorkton and the opportunity arose for Elaine and Ken to move their family to Stornoway, to Elaine’s homestead. Life was hectic, farming both grain and cattle. Elaine loved raising chickens, turkeys and even ducks sometimes. She had a greenhouse and started plants from seed which then grew into large vegetable and flower gardens. And of course, she loved baking and cooking.
Faith was a huge part all of Elaine’s life. After having children, she became a Sunday School teacher, volunteered at the church whenever there was a function, and was alter guild.
Elaine was active in the Rhein community; she enjoyed curling and found herself in tournaments and leagues for mixed and women’s teams.
Elaine and Ken even caught the travel bug, exploring the USA by car on different occasions (Elaine was a genius at map reading and maneuvered the big cities with ease). Their big highlight was visiting Honolulu, Hawaii with their family.
Of all these activities, family get-togethers were first and foremost on Elaine’s list. Whether it be Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter, there was always big family gatherings on both the Engel and Els sides of the family. In addition, camping at Turtle Lake, Madge Lake, or visiting Good Spirit Lake always meant a wonderful family gathering.
Heading out to Nanaimo by train to visit sister Sharon, Dave and family one Christmas was definitely a highlight. In the
later years, Elaine enjoyed visiting sister Brenda and Dale at Manitou Lake whenever the opportunity arose.
But there was no greater love for Elaine than for her grandchildren. These four kids meant the world to her. The holidays were always the best part, where the family would gather and wonderful memories were made.
In 1985, Elaine had the opportunity to put her skills of baking and cooking to good use when sister Glenna and Norm opened Soup n’ Such in the Parkland Mall. Not only did this afford Elaine the opportunity of working with her sister Glenna, but also with her daughter Shelley. It truly was a family affair.
Her hard work and dedication to the business led to Elaine purchasing Soup n’ Such from her sister in 1994. She absolutely loved the customers, her “coffee drinkers”, her employees, and the fast pace that owning a small food establishment demanded. Not only did she operate and work at the business full time, she also did all of the book work that her business required on days off and weekends.
In 1996, after living on a farm for almost their whole life thus far, Elaine and Ken built and moved into their home in Yorkton. Moving to Yorkton didn’t mean retirement for Elaine, it meant being closer to work!
After 26 years of being so incredibly busy, Elaine felt the strain. It was time to lighten her load and in 2011 she decided to sell her business and fully retire. As the years passed, Elaine became Ken’s caregiver, as memory loss and Alzheimer’s Disease entered their lives. This was by far Elaine’s most challenging task she was ever given, and she did this with love and grace everyday, to which her children will be forever grateful.
In 2022, Ken needed more care than Elaine could offer and the difficult decision to move him into Long Term Care was made. It was at this point that Elaine realized that her home and yard were perhaps just too much for herself, where she made yet another difficult decision to move to The Bentley in the summer of 2023, where she resided until her passing on May 31, 2026.
Elaine is predeceased by her loving husband of 60 years Kenneth; parents Edwin and Emilie Engel; sister Brenda Loeppky; father and mother-in-law Adam and Katherine (Starger) Els; in-laws Rudolf (Pauline) Els, Albert Els, Marjorie (Arthur) Freiheit, Gordon Els, Edward Els and Doreen Els. Elaine leaves to mourn and celebrate her life her children Shelley Els, Gregory (Cheryl) Els and Carmen (Cordell) Sasyniuk. Her pride and joy, her grandchildren Logan and Emma Els, and Brandon and Cameron Sasyniuk. Elaine also leaves to mourn sisters Glenna (Norm) Vance and Sharon (Dave) Hart, brother-in-law Dale Loeppky, sisters-in-law Beverly Mehling and Doris Els; as well as many nieces and nephews.
A special thank you to Dr. van Zyl and the care team at St. Peter’s Hospital in Melville for the wonderful care Elaine received in her final weeks.
A Memorial Service was held on Saturday, July 4, 2026 at Yorkton Memorial Gardens Family Centre with Crystal Bailey serving as Celebrant. Glenna Vance offered words of remembrance. Pianist Vera Leis played ‘Softly and
Tenderly’ for the congregation.
Interment followed in the Garden of Memories, Trinity Columbarium, Yorkton Memorial Gardens with Brandon Sasyniuk, Cameron Sasynuik, Emma Els and Logan Els serving as urn bearers.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Bailey’s Funeral and Cremation Care.
