Ila graduated from high school in Gregory, SD, in May of 1946. She then attended Teachers College in Springfield, SD. She taught grades 1-8 at a country school near Dixon, SD, for 3 years. She met Dean DeLong Sr. in 1949 and they were married on June 4, 1950. After their marriage, they lived in Kearney, NE, Omaha, NE, Rock Rapids, IA and Tecumseh, NE, and Dodge, NE before moving to Lincoln, NE in 1977. They had two children, Dean L. DeLong, Jr., and Elicia R. DeLong. Dean and Ila were married just a few days shy of their 70th wedding anniversary. Dean passed away from complications of Covid-19 on June 1, 2020.
She worked with Dean Sr., as an entrepreneur in the bowling alley business in Tecumseh, NE. She also drove the school bus for the Tecumseh school district as well as owning and running an office supply business in downtown Tecumseh. She finished her working career as a clerk in the claims department for Allied Insurance in Lincoln, NE and retired from there in 1991.
She loved traveling across the Western United States with her family as her kids grew up, and later two grandsons, Ryan Mahoney and Lucas (Luke) Mahoney, and cross stitch needlework. She very much enjoyed going to the Smith family reunions in Gregory, SD and visiting her 4 sisters, one brother and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She and Dean spent many winters traveling in a motorhome as snowbirds to the Brownsville, TX area.
She is survived by her son, Dean DeLong Jr. of Louisville, NE; her daughter and son-in-law, Elicia Laabs and Gregory Laabs of Louisville, NE; and her two grandsons, Ryan Mahoney and Luke Mahoney, both from Hastings, NE.
Ila is preceded in death by, her husband, Dean DeLong Sr. and her daughter-in-law, Denise DeLong.
Visitation: 1-2pm Monday, May 16, 2022 followed by a 2pm Funeral Service all at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home 6800 S. 14th Street, Lincoln. Memorials are suggested to the family for future designation. Condolences to www.lincolnfh.com.
