Viola Isabel (Hartsoe) Halsey of Conowingo died October 22, 2015 at Calvert Manor Healthcare Center. She was 95. She was born in Conowingo on February 18, 1920; the daughter of the late Elizabeth (Eller) Hartsoe and Ulysses G. Hartsoe. As a youngster, she loved to visit and spend time with her grandparents, Wiley and Bell Eller who lived on a large farm in Conowingo. While there, she listened to many family stories and became an avid storyteller to her own children. She remembered living in Hamilton, Ohio, a major manufacturing city at the time, and hearing the city go silent as it closed down during the Great Depression. She was an original “Rosie the Riveter” female worker during World War II, but because she worked at Elkton’s munitions plant, they were known as the “boom boom” girls. As a young woman, Mrs. Halsey moved with her family to Pennsylvania where she met and married her husband Ed. They eventually returned to Conowingo, bought a farm and built a home on part of her grandparent’s beloved farm. She lived there for 70 plus years and raised five children. As a homemaker she loved and cared for her family and was a member of Porters Grove Baptist Church.
She cherished her time spent with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Mrs. Halsey also loved to cook, crochet, and quilt. Her close friends and family remember her as a funny, sweet and loving person. She also enjoyed spending time with her companion Tony, a large orange tabby cat. She is survived by her four children, Edward Halsey of Conowingo, Frank Halsey and wife Carol of Rising Sun, Elizabeth Flaharty and husband Lonny of Pace, Fla., and Donald Halsey and wife Cyndia, of Wiesbaden, Germany; 12 grandchildren, Diana Washburn, Frank Halsey, Terri Thacker, Robert Strobridge, Melissa Strudgeon, Randall Reeves, Lori Merritt, Larla Halsey and four step grandchildren, Beth Stevens, Chantelle and Christopher Knuycky, and Melanie Flaharty; 12 great grandchildren and four great great grandchild; and a brother Charles and wife Colleen Hartsoe of High Point, N.C. Including her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Edward S. Halsey; daughter RuthAnn Reeves, daughter-in-law Alma Halsey; two grandchildren, Ronald and Brenda Halsey and one great grandchild, Chaffin Washburn; two brothers, Paul and Robert Hartsoe; and two sisters, Laura and Ruby Hartsoe. A visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, at R.T. Foard Funeral Home, 111 South Queen Street, Rising Sun. A service will be held at noon on Wednesday, October 28, at Porters Grove Baptist Church, 478 Connelly Road, Rising Sun, where family and friends may visit beginning at 11 a.m.. Burial will follow at Conowingo Baptist Cemetery. Flowers are welcomed as are memorial contributions payable to the “National Stroke Association” and sent in care of the funeral home. Comments are closed.
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