Elsa Giles

With heavy hearts, we said good bye to Elsa D. Lohans Giles on August 22, 2015 at the Silver Wood Good Samaritan of Silverton, Idaho. She was born January 26, 1925 in Rochester, New York; Elsa was the youngest of four children to Hermann and Alice (Stumpf) Lohans.

Elsa attended the Lockwood Grade School in Webster Groves, Missouri. She then attended and graduated from the Fosdick Masten Park High School in Buffalo, New York, where she served as captain of the Girls Basketball Team. In 1946, Elsa received a BS degree in education from the State Teachers College. In 1948, Elsa received Occupational Therapy Registered training from Columbia University in New York City; while there, she lived at the Parnassus Club, which housed the OT students.

In the Summer of 1948, while working as the art counselor at Camp Daddy Allen in Connecticut, Elsa met her future husband, R.H. (Erik) Giles; they were married on September 17, 1948 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

From 1948-1956, Elsa and Erik lived in many different places, while Erik finished his degree and worked at various mining jobs and Elsa worked as an Occupational Therapist.
In 1956, Erik took a job with Day Mines and they moved to Wallace, Idaho and bought the family home on King Street. During this time, Elsa taught art for one year at the Wallace High School and Junior High. She also taught “Tuesday School” for the children who were not quite old enough for Kindergarten. To this day, many of her former students tell how inspiring she was to them. In the early Wallace years, Elsa worked as an occupational therapist for the Good Samaritan Nursing Home and in later years she served as the librarian for the Wallace Public Library.

The Giles were instrumental in starting the showcase of the arts in 1958, the year of the Wallace Silver Jubilee, promoting art, music and theater in the Silver Valley. Elsa and Erik spent many summer afternoons at the Wallace Swimming Pool. Elsa was well known for her beautiful watercolors; people collected and saved her Christmas cards, which always had some local scene on them. Elsa played tennis until her mid 80’s and also loved and enjoyed gardening and traveling to the Pacific Ocean. In December of 2002, Elsa was interviewed by the Shoshone News-Press in regard to her exhibit at the Wallace Public Library; she was very knowledgeable on local history.

Elsa is survived by two daughters Gretchen (Rick) Ehrsam of Seattle, Washington, Heidi Clawson of Wallace, Idaho; one granddaughter Romy Adele Mildred Ehrsam of Seattle, Washington; one sister Alice Braun of Seattle, Washington. Elsa was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Erik (R.H. Giles) who passed away on May 2, 2002, one brother Walt Lohans and one sister Hilde Tuthill.
Memorial Services will be held on Saturday, August 29, 2015 at 11:00 A.M. at the United Church of Christ Congregational of Wallace with Rev. Alice Ling officiating. A reception/luncheon will be held at the Church following services.

The family wishes to express their thanks to the staff and residents of the Silverwood Good Samaritan for the love and kindness they had shown to our “Oma”.
The family suggests that memorials may be made to the Wallace Public Library or to the Wallace Swimming Pool, c/o City of Wallace, 703 Cedar Street Wallace, Idaho 83873 or to the United Church of Christ Congregational, 408 Cedar Street Wallace, Idaho 83873.

SHOSHONE FUNERAL SERVICES & CREMATORY KELLOGG, IDAHO is entrusted with funeral arrangements.

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