Elaine Marie Kusel

Elaine Marie Kusel was born July 17, 1940, in Fullerton, California, in Cottage Hospital on north Harbor. Her parents, Julius Herman Kusel and Dorathy Bertha Schierloh Kusel, were devout German Lutherans whose U.S. roots were in Iowa and Oklahoma. She was the second of four children: Ronald Julius, Elaine Marie, Marilyn Janet (Kirk), and Beverly Jean (Bogardus).

Before Elaine was a month old, her parents brought her to Jesus in baptism at the family’s church, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Orange, Pastor Webbeking

Her childhood home was two blocks north of the church, at 270 N. Pine Ave., Orange, California, phone number 761-R

Her first school experience was kindergarten at Maple Street School, two blocks east of her home, within walking distance.

All eight of her elementary grades were spent at Immanuel Lutheran School, where the curriculum included daily Bible study and memorization of Bible passages and hymn verses. She was a tomboy who played touch football and softball on the boys’ teams.

Her high school years were spent at Orange Union High School, now occupied by Chapman University, where she excelled in field hockey until a sesamoid injury to her foot ended her athletic career.

Her two years of junior college took place at a Lutheran boarding school, St. John's College, in Winfield, Kansas, where she prepared to be a Lutheran school teacher.

She finished college at River Forest Teachers College, River Forest, Illinois, from which she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Education.

Then came her first and only teaching assignment, three years at a Lutheran elementary school in Lansing, Michigan, an experience she did not enjoy. After three years she left teaching to pursue her childhood dream of working in law enforcement. She began as a floor walker in the Sears department store in Santa Ana, which she loved, especially when the apprehending of shoplifters required physical force.

Her childhood dream came true when she graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy. From that point on, most of her working years were centered at Rampart Division where she became a detective. She loved it, telling fascinating stories about how, in order to flush out robbers, she acted as a decoy.

Elaine was a conservative, which led her to move her church membership to King of Kings Lutheran Church in Garden Grove, a congregation in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. There she left behind several decades of notes on the sermons preached by her pastors.

Her retirement years were lived in the Santa Clara Apartments, on Santa Clara Ave., across the street from the burial sites of her grandfather Julius William Kusel, and parents Julius Herman and Dorathy Bertha Kusel.

During those retirement years she worked as hospice worker, visiting and comforting the dying, especially encouraging Christians to hold fast to Jesus.

Her last six months, suffering from terminal myeloma, were spent in Town and Country Manor, in Santa Ana, California. Jesus took her home Sunday afternoon, Oct. 14, 2018, at 1:16 pm., Oct. 14, 2018. Elaine’s body, awaiting the resurrection, is buried next to her parents.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.fairhavenmemorial.com for the Kusel family.