Born in Iowa, Ilo moved with her
family to Wisconsin when she was one and one-half years old. She
was themiddle child of three. Their part of Wisconsin was not
good farm land, but was known for all the rocks scattered
everywhere from a glacier. She remembers, however, some nice
woods to explore and a river in which to swim. Her father
struggled to make a living for his family during the depression
years. "We were poor!" After high school and two years
at the county Normal School, she earned a teacher’s
certificate and started teaching.At first she taught all eight grades, then the upper grades in a two-room school, where she was the principal for two years. She taught fifth and sixth grades in another school for two years before leaving to finish her B.S. degree at Falls River Teachers’ College. One of her grandfathers had been a minister, and she was always active in the church. From childhood she had been interested in missions. Contacts with two missionaries to China were important; one referred her to the Woman’s Division. She then taught two years at Harwood School in Albuquerque, where she knew two deaconesses. At summer camp she met a deaconess nurse. Ilo applied for the deaconess relationship and spent a year at Scarritt to get the required religion courses. In 1948 she was commissioned and then taught at George O. Robinson School in Puerto Rico until 1976. Her summers were spent earning her Master’s degree at Scarritt.
After her father’s death and her mother’s move to a retirement home, Ilo took training, became a Registered Nurse, and worked for five years in that home before she retired in 1984. She stayed there in Richland Center, Wisconsin, until she joined our Brooks-Howell family in May.
"Music has always been an important part of my life," Ilo declares, "and I’ve already joined our Brooks-Howell choir!"