Aline Elizabeth (Gerdes) Finnell, 97, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 22, 2024, at Hospice Alliance in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Aline was born on February 23, 1927, in Minonk, Illinois to Fred and Matilda Gerdes. She met the love of her life, Wayne Finnell, while attending high school in Minonk and married him on a very cold and snowy January 3, 1947, in St. Patrick Church. Together, they embarked on an adventure that lasted 68 years, until Wayne’s passing in November 2015. She was also preceded in death by daughters, Gail and Anita, and her only son, Terrence.
Aline and Wayne started their family in Minonk, then moved to Kinsman and eventually to Morris, Illinois. They belonged to Immaculate Conception Parish in Morris, where their children attended Immaculate Conception School. They moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1997, and were parishioners of St. Peter’s Parish. Aline and Wayne were devout Catholics, and wherever they lived, the Catholic Church was an important part of their lives. Aline and Wayne were involved in many activities in the Parishes in which they lived. Eventually, in 2015, they moved into the retirement community of Celebre Place in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As a family, we will be forever grateful for the kindness and support shown by the staff and members of the Celebre community.
To Aline, family was everything. A dedicated and loving mother and grandmother, she is survived by her daughters, Patricia Finnell, Mary Kay (Robert) Pilmer, Constance (Steven) Hawley and Colleen (Bruce) Spangler. She adored her grandchildren Angela Kiger, Adam Spangler, Kathryn (Anthony) Lalor, John (Erin) Pilmer. Anna (Jordan) Leitner and Alex (Chad) Copeland. And she delighted in spending time with her great-grandchildren Charlotte and Alan Spangler, Brody and Blakely Lalor, John Junior and Graham Pilmer and Benjamin Copeland. Her family was the center of her world, and she instilled in them the values of love and kindness that she embodied every day. She enjoyed sewing and quilting and made numerous gifts for friends and family.
Visitation and Mass will begin at 9:30AM on Friday, April 5, 2024, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Minonk. Her ashes will be buried in Saint Patrick’s Cemetery following the services. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with Memorial ID number 23929387.
