Elaine Mary Dabisch Engel passed peacefully at her home in Lily Lake, Wisconsin, on July 14th, 2022, after a long battle with Primary Progressive Aphasia, a rare form of dementia.
Born July 11,1941, in Chicago, Illinois, to the late Elmer F. Dabisch and Anna P. Steinhauer Dabisch, Elaine graduated from Eberhart Elementary School and Maria High School before earning her Registered Nursing certification in 1962 from Little Company of Mary School of Nursing in Evergreen Park, Illinois, and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1971 from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During her 40-plus year nursing career, Elaine cared for both the very young, as a neonatal and pediatric nurse in both hospital and office settings, and the very old, as a home care nurse and as a charge nurse at Mount Carmel Nursing Home in Burlington. She spent the last 19 years of her career with the Kenosha County Department of Human Services, first as a school nurse, and then as a public health nurse working in cooperation with the Aging and Disability Resource Center on the Community Options and Family Care programs.
Elaine’s proudest achievements, however, were her two beloved children. She was a devoted mother who was always there for her kids in every way possible. She was a Girl Scout leader for several years, and was also involved with the Wheatland Center PTO, the Wilmot Band Parents, and sewed costumes for school theater and musical productions.
Elaine was a breast cancer and skin cancer survivor. She loved to sew and garden, and passed her love of reading, music, art, and theater on to her children. Elaine was also a lifelong baseball fan; she especially enjoyed watching the Cubs and the Brewers. She belonged to the Kenosha County Homemakers (now the Association for Home and Community Education), St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Twin Lakes, and later St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in New Munster.
Elaine is survived by her daughter, Laura Engel (Damian Driscoll) of Lily Lake, and her son John (Cara) Engel of Monroe City, Missouri; her grandson, Esten Engel, and a grandchild due in December; her brother Ken (Carol) Dabisch of Bolingbrook, Illinois; and her sister in law Marilyn Dabisch of Palos Heights, Illinois.
She is preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Elmer Dabisch; her sister, Eleanor Dabisch; and her granddaughter, Zoe Ann Engel.
The family would like to extend a special thanks to Elaine’s care team from Hospice Alliance in Pleasant Prairie, for the loving care and support they provided over the last two years: Kilea, Tiffany, Heidi, Elaine, Solomon, Erica, Becca, Charlie, and especially her long-time CNA and friend, Jackie.
A funeral mass will be held at 10:00AM on Saturday, July 30, 2022 at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, 6301 344th Ave, New Munster, WI 53152, interment to follow at St. Alphonsus cemetery. Family and friends are invited to a visitation from 4:00PM until 7:00PM on Friday, July 29, 2022, at Haase-Lockwood & Associates Funeral Home and Crematory, 620 Legion Dr., Twin Lakes, WI 53181. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Elaine’s honor to Hospice Alliance at https://www.hospicealliance.org/support-us/honor-a-love-one/ or by mail at 10220 Prairie Ridge Blvd.
Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158.
