Elaine J. Kemp Age 84, of Milton GA, passed away Tuesday at Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care in Cumming GA after a long and courageous fight against several illnesses. Elaine was born in Ossian, Iowa the eldest of four children, all girls. Upon graduating from DeSales high school in 1952, she went on to nurses training at St. Mary‘s School of Nursing in Minnesota and graduated in 1955. She continued as a cardiac surgical nurse for the world-renowned Dr. Kirkland and Dr. Ellis assisting in the first open heart procedures using the Heart-Lung machine.
She left in 1958 for Santa Barbara, CA again working as a surgical cardiac nurse. It’s there she met the man of her dreams – a tall Marine named Van Kemp – whom she married and started raising a family. She went on to become the industrial nurse for Outboard Marine Corp (OMC). She retired from OMC after many years of service and then devoted her time to the Catholic Church and her family.
Elaine and Van celebrated 51 years of marriage the last 40 of which was spent in Gurnee, IL raising two boys, John and Paul. A voracious reader, Elaine would often spend hours at the library perusing the different sections before checking out with a large number of books; all of which would be read within days. She was never shy about showing off her collection of Hummels, Lladros, and Beanie Babies either. She was an active member of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Gurnee serving as a Minister of Care to the elderly, Disabled American Veterans Association, Toys for Tots, the Illinois Nurses Association. She is preceded in death by her husband - Van Kemp; father - Joe Funke; mother - Leona Funke; and her sisters - Audrey (Toots) Schroeder and Marilyn (Rose) Johnson. She is survived by her two sons John (Reese) and Paul (Toni) Kemp; one sister, Catherine (Robert M) Reilly; three grandchildren, Beau, Sydney and Michael Kemp; and many special nieces and nephews.
A Memorial service will be held on Sept 8, 2018 at St Mary of the Annunciation – 22333 W Erhart Rd, Mundelein, IL. 60060. Visitation is from 9am to 10am with a mass commencing at 10am and a luncheon to follow. Burial services will be held at Arlington National Cemetery. Date and time TBD.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to:
Wounded Warrior Project – woundedwarriorproject.org
Monastery of Poor Clares – 215 E Los Olivos St, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-3605
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