Obituary of Elsa Mae MacDonald

Elsa Mae MacDonald passed away Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016. Elsa was born May 13, 1918, in Duluth. She was a wife, mother and grandmother. Elsa dedicated her life to raising her family. Elsa cooked for an army every Sunday afternoon, she taught us to play cribbage and skunked us 2 out of 3 games. She provided the best daycare in all of Lakewood with hugs, kisses and snacks galore. Elsa made excellent toys out of string and potato chip boxes. She had magical duct tape that could fix anything. Elsa would bounce every baby on her knee singing a Swedish song, to this day none of us know the words. She would race Doug to the cabin with grandkids in tow, 90 miles an hour up the Normanna Road, no seatbelts. We survived, and she often won. As a stubborn Swede, Elsa made a grand attempt to live 100 years and drive us all crazy; she almost made it. She certainly proved her point in driving us crazy, who would have thought someone with two bad hips and a walker could strategically plan an escape from the nursing home. Elsa loved and spoiled all of us. She kept her family close and for that we thank her. She was preceded in death by her husband, Doug, and granddaughter Jazzelle Evavold. Elsa is survived by seven children, Douglas (Peggy), Tim (Sharon), Barbara (Phil) Bolf, Vicki (Roger) Sward, Sandra (Kelly) Seavey, Connie (Thomas) Eklund and Lisa (Roland) Sward; 18 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. A CELEBRATION OF ELSA'S LIFE: 4-7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23, in Lakewood Community Club. The family would like to thank the wonderful staff of St. Luke's hospice.