Eloise Ivens Sears ,87, after suffering a massive stroke, she left us peacefully on Aug. 30th. She was born on April 5, 1919 in Macon County to Luther Hugenberger and Mary Rice Hugenberger. Graveside Services will be held on November 4th at Macon County Memorial Park at 1 pm. Memorials: First United Methodist Church or Children's Museum. Eloise was a hard working woman who devoted her life to teaching her children, her scouts and her students to focus on doing the right thing. She graduated from Decatur High School and James Millikin University. She was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. She taught in LaPlace, White School and the Decatur Public Schools from 1938 till 1981. She married John Robert Ivens in 1944. He died in 1985. Eloise married Dr. Adrian R. M. Sears in 1992 and moved to Paradise, California. He died in April of 2006. Eloise was an active member of the First United Methodist Church in Decatur and an associate member of Paradise United Methodist Church. She was active in scouting and served as a Girl Schout Leader for 10 years as well as a Cub Scout Leader. She was a member of the Illinois Parent Teacher's Assoc., Decatur Area Retired Teacher's Assoc., Illinois Retired Teacher's Assoc., and a Life Member of National Retired Teacher's Assoc. She was a volunteer for Decatur Memorial Hospital Aux., Decatur Historical Society and a member of the American Assoc. of University Women. Three sisters and two husbands preceded her. She is survived by her children, John Ivens and his wife Eleanor - Dewitt Iowa; Nancy Heuman, Alvord, Texas; Ellen Hearn and husband Larry, Mt. Zion, IL; , Susan Hoffman and husband John, Colorado Springs, Colorado; and one sister, Sara Mae Bingen, Milwaukee, Wisc. She also has her California family which includes: 5 step-sons and 1 step-daughter. She enjoyed her six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, but unfortunately missed the births of two great grandchildren expected in September. Obituary written by family members.
Published in the Decatur Herald & Review on 9/2/2006.