Obituary for Ellwyn C. Englof, 1947-2022
Written by Gayle Englof

As I sit here writing this obituary, I am in the sunroom looking out on Ellwyn's garden with all of its beauty - flowers, native plants, birds of all kinds. I am reminded of the first time we saw this house in 1976, right before our wedding. We fell in love with the property. Over the years we remodeled and molded the house together into a structure in which we raised our wonderful daughters and shared our life for 46 years.

When we received the pancreatic cancer diagnosis 13 months ago, we were stunned. Of course we would fight every step of the way. At times, we felt we were winning - only to have a setback. During our journey, we lived life as fully as we could. We spent time with family and dear friends, went to Rockford Symphony concerts, took hikes at Atwood Forest Preserve and Nygren Wetlands, and enjoyed one last ski trip to Colorado.

Ellwyn was born in 1947 in Rockford to Eldora and Harold Englof and was raised at Zion Lutheran Church. He was an Eagle Scout and spent time in the boundary waters with his scout troop. He learned to sail at a very early age and spent many days crewing at Lake Geneva. Eventually he bought a wood C-scow and kept it at Lake Delevan. We dated for 3 years and I was his crew in the Saturday sailboat races. (We lost every one).

Ellwyn graduated in the Guilford High School class of 1965 and went to the University of Illinois, majoring in mechanical engineering. His first job was with Ingersoll Milling Machine Company. He then worked for the consulting division of Ingersoll and we moved to Germany and later England 1978-82. We LOVED our time in Europe and made lifelong friends in England. Later, he joined Sundstrand Aviation for the balance of his career. He planned factories in many countries, including Brazil, Poland, Germany, and England. He spoke fluent German. We have many dear relatives and friends in Sweden and have visited them several times. The highlight of all of our trips was our last trip to Oland (the home of three of our grandparents) with our cousin Jeff Nelson and his wife Dana, where we did a family bike ride across the island with our Swedish cousins.

A lifelong relationship with nature drew Ellwyn to the work of the Natural Land Institute and he served on the board and committees for many years. His love of music was evident with his support of the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, attending all concerts and serving on committees and the board of the Symphony Foundation. Together, we established the Isadore Olson Scholarship for the Rockford Symphony Youth Orchestra.

I cannot describe the kindness we have received from our dear friends and our family. Ellwyn felt so loved and was very grateful. We received the most outstanding care from Dr. Harvey Einhorn and the SwedishAmerican Cancer center LOVING nurses and staff. A special thank you to Dr. Stephen Minore who helped us in the last weeks of Ellwyn's journey. In addition, the doctors and staff from the University of Chicago were wonderful during the Whipple surgery in August and worked closely with Dr. Einhorn throughout our treatment.

My dear husband lived his life with kindness to everyone. I hope when you read this obituary, you will be inspired to hold your loved ones close and savor every single day you have together. Survivors include his wife Gayle, daughters Ila Englof (Marco Bernasconi), Carla Englof (Andrew Ladd), and beloved grandchildren Camilla and Mattia Bernasconi.

Celebration of Life on Saturday, May 28 from 2-7pm
Short memorial service at 5pm
Location: Atwood Forest Preserve, Old Settlers Shelter - 8990 Old River Rd., Rockford, IL 61103

Memorials can be made to: The Rockford Symphony Orchestra, the Natural Land Institute, and the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research

In keeping with Ellwyn's wishes, his body was donated for medical science to the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois.