Ellen Sarah (Bland) Eslinger

Ellen Eslinger, 105, died peacefully on May 3, 2021 in Poway, CA. Ellen was born Dec. 4, 1915, the sixth child of George Anderson Bland and Mary Virginia (Roe) Bland, in the family farmhouse along Turkey Creek, near the community of Blackjack, in rural St. Clair County. The family later moved to a farm in Cedar County, near Herriman Chapel Church of God (Holiness) which was dear to Ellen and her family.

Ellen attended El Dorado Springs High School. Her time there was interrupted by a year-long absence. During that year she traveled to

California by train to support her sister, Opal .with the birth of Opal’s second child, Martin. She returned home, went on to graduate from high school and completed a year of teachers college in Springfield.

She taught for a year at the one-room Johnson School with students from first to eighth grade. Her experience as a teacher remained a high point in her life.

On April 11, 1937, the day after school ended, she married Clayton Wilson Eslinger, and they left immediately on their journey to Michigan, where Clayton had been working. The difficulty of finding work in the latter years of the depression led them from Michigan to Wyoming to Idaho and ultimately to California. In 1941, they moved to San Diego, which would be their home for the next 80 years.

During the 1940’s and ‘50’s, Ellen was instrumental in organizing the annual “Missouri Picnic” for the many Missourians who had moved to Southern California. In those early years she was active in PTA and enjoyed serving as an election poll worker with her friends. And of course, through those years, Ellen raised her family and supported Clayton in the family business.

Ellen and Clayton were devout Christians, becoming active members, first, in the Free Methodist Church of Hillcrest and then the Skyline Wesleyan Church of Lemon Grove, later of Rancho San Diego, where they were deacons with pastor Orval Butcher. After Clayton’s death in 1998, Ellen became very active in her “home group” at Skyline Church and loved her relationships with the “Friday Group” in folding bulletins and performing other support for the Church. The support and love shown by the “Friday Group” as Ellen became house bound was sincerely appreciated by Ellen and her family.

Her immediate and extended family was the center of her Christian life. She loved nothing more than to be surrounded by family and in true Missourian spirit to feed them well.

In February 2013, Ellen moved to Gate Manor Poway, an assisted living facility which provided excellent care until her death.

Ellen was preceded in death by her parents; three sisters – Noval, Opal and Alvetta; and seven brothers; an infant, Virgil, Moody, Orval, Clifford, Leo and George Eugene (Scoot); great- grandson, Bradley; and her husband, Clayton.

She is survived by three children – George, Sydney and Richard; one granddaughter, Kimberly; seven grandsons – Kevin, Loren, Brian, Daryn, Danny, Jesse and Joel; eight great-grandsons – Austin, Jason, Jaedon, Silas, Judah, Corbin, Caleb and Ezra; and four great-granddaughters – Brienna, Adrianna, Verity and Shilo; and many, many nieces and nephews.

No formal service will be held. A private gathering of Ellen’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be held at grave side on a future date.

The family intends to plant trees dedicated to Ellen’s memory at cemeteries in Cedar County where her parents, grandparents and other members of her family are buried. In lieu of flowers, donations for the Ellen Eslinger Memorial Trees will be gratefully accepted. Checks may be written to George Eslinger, notated for Ellen’s Memorial Trees and sent to:16712 E Queenside Dr. Covina, CA 91722

Ellen will be interred at El Camino Memorial Cemetery in San Diego. Their website, www.dignitymemorial.com, provides a link for posting memories of Ellen (see heading “find obituaries and services”). The family would be very grateful for memories Ellen’s extended family and friends may wish to share there.