Ella Mae Eiten

Ella Mae Eiten, 96, of West Des Moines, formerly of rural Wellsburg, passed away on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at Pine Acres in Wes Des Moines. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, November 5, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. until time of the memorial service at 10:30 a.m. at First Christian Reformed Church in rural Wellsburg. Interment of the urn will follow the service at the church cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the family. 

Ella was born on May 10, 1930 in rural Ackley, Iowa. She was the daughter of William and Lena Nerdig Lange. At the age of 2 the family moved to a farm southwest of Iowa Falls where she grew up with 2 older brothers. She was baptized at St. Johns Evangelical Church in Ackley on October 5, 1930 and made profession of faith in April of 1947 at the First Congregational Church in Iowa Falls.

She graduated from Iowa Falls High School in 1948 and went on to nursing school at Iowa Methodist School of Nursing in Des Moines, graduating with an R.N. degree in 1951. On July 7, 1951 she was united in marriage to Harvey Eiten of rural Wellsburg. They made their home on the family farm west of Wellsburg for the next 40 years. To this union was born 2 children, Kenneth Howard and Mary Lou. Harvey passed away in 1991.

Over the years Ella worked as a nurse in a doctor’s office in Wellsburg, at Grundy County Memorial Hospital, Maple Manor Nursing Home in Aplington and Cedar Falls Health Care. She was at Maple Manor for over 20 years and while there served as Director of Nursing. She volunteered with a Medical Missions group on the island of Jamaica in 1992 and 1993. In all, she was in the nursing profession for over 50 years and was proud to serve.

She was a loving, trusting mother and grandmother and that role was her greatest joy. She loved living on the farm and caring for animals just as she did for people. She was known as a dear friend to many and a good listener.

She was a member of the First Christian Reformed Church of Wellsburg for 40 years and later became a member of the Presbyterian Church of Steamboat Rock.

She is survived by her daughter Mary (Jim) Cooper of Windsor Heights, Iowa; grandchildren Jim Eiten, William Eiten, and Erica Eiten; great-granddaughter Olivia Ella Eiten; and daughter-in-law Debbie Eiten. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Harvey; son Kenneth; brothers Willard and Richard Lange.