DELAVAN – Celia “Susie” Marie (Drath) Ekman, age 83, of Delavan died unexpectedly on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn. She was born in West Chicago, IL on May 31, 1932 to Marx H. and Hattie Blanche (Ferdon) Drath. At the age of 10, she moved with her family to Belvidere, IL. After the death of her mother when Celia was 12, she resided with her sister Helen and her family. There she learned how to cook many of our family favorites. While working as a car hop, she met George K. Ekman and on October 7, 1949 they were married at the First Baptist Church in Belvidere. Before starting a family, Celia worked at National Lock in Rockford, IL. When the first of their five children, all born in Illinois, arrived, she became a stay at home mom. In 1962, the family moved to Delavan WI. In 1965, Celia started working at Oak Manufacturing in Elkhorn. Later, she started a career at the Walworth County Home, first as a nursing assistant, then the laundry department assistant, and finally the Head of the Laundry. She “retired” in 1978, after the birth of the first of her seven grandchildren. She became the kind of Grandma everyone wants; baking treats and sewing prize winning Halloween costumes. Her talents included cooking, sewing, gardening, crafting and an ability to fix almost anything.
Celia is survived by Daughters; Leanne (Bill Wells) Ekman and Gail (Dale) Thompson, Sons; Edward, Christopher and Mark (Bonny) Ekman, all of Delavan; grandchildren, Kate Ekman, William and Ellen (Gilberto)Wells, Eric (Spruha)Thompson, Emily (Nicholas)Bell, Parker and Scott Ekman; 13great grandchildren; siblings, Lucille Ripley, Rida Drath, William Drath, and Clara Carter, of IL; sisters-in-law, Virginia Drath, Rita Ekman of WI, Gloria Ekman, and Gwendolyn Wylie of IL. Celia
is preceded in death by her husband, George; her parents; four sisters, Peggy, Helen, Noella, and Sally; three brothers, Herbert, John, and Frank; brothers-in-law, Gilbert, Gerald, Pete, John, Dale and Don, sisters-in-law Bonnie and Fran.
Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Friday, May 27, 2016 at Monroe Funeral Home, 604 E. Walworth Ave in Delavan with Rev. Gary Sisk officiating. Visitation will be held from 5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, May 26, 2016 and 10:00 A.M. until time of service at the funeral home on Friday. Burial will take place at Spring Grove Cemetery in Delavan.
