Eleanor Lois Iley

ELEANOR LOIS ILEY (Feb. 14, 1922 – Nov. 23, 2016)
A longtime Fallston resident, Eleanor Lois Iley died November 23, 2016 of complications from dementia at Bel Air Assisted Living. She was 94.

Born in Knox City, Texas, to William Perry Howard and Eleanor Hays Howard, Lois could trace her family roots in the United States back to 1825 through her father, who was a cowboy and cotton buyer.

Lois grew up in O'Donnell, Tex. where she taught Sunday school. One of her pupils was Dan Blocker who was best known for playing Hoss Cartwright on the NBC television series Bonanza. Later the family moved to Weslaco, Texas, a border town in the Rio Grande Valley and hometown of a neighbor, Harlon Block, who was one of the Marines in the iconic photograph raising the flag at Iwo Jima.

A World War II veteran, Lois served in the United States Navy from February, 1943 to December, 1945 when she was honorably discharged at the rank of Yeoman Second Class.

On May 18, 1947 Lois married Wilbur Iley of Street after meeting on a blind date. The marriage lasted 66 years until Wilbur's death in December, 2013.
Shortly after their marriage they joined with relatives Mervin and Louise Amrein who had opened a general store on Main Street in Fallston. Later Lois took a position as bookkeeper with the Harlatane Gas Company in Fallston where she worked until retiring.
Her hobbies included sewing, painting and drawing. She was a longtime member of the Fallston Presbyterian Church where she assisted as a superintendent of its Sunday school. She was also a member of the Fallston Chimney Corner Club, a ladies organization to which she once served up one of her specialties, a Mexican enchilada dinner. Her pastimes included an interest in Native American artifacts. Along with her husband she was an active life member in the Archeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake, serving as one of its hostesses for many years.

Lois is survived by a son, John Iley of Pittsburg, Kan.; two daughters, Sandra Schlehr of Bel Air and Eleanor Welkner of Street; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In addition to her husband, her passing was preceded by the death of her daughter, Jacqueline Iley in 1977.

In lieu of flowers a contribution can be made to the Fallston Presbyterian Church, 600 Fallston Road, P.O. Box 54, Fallston, Md. 21047.