Eileen Marie Smilonich

Eileen Marie Smilonich, age 94, passed away at the Cottage in Detroit Lakes on Monday, September 22, 2014, under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley. Eileen Marie Thompson was born on July 14, 1920 in Brainerd, MN to Walter Leslie Thompson and Esther Marie (Soder) Thompson. She attended schools in Nisswa and Deerwood and graduated from the Crosby-Ironton High School in 1939.

She was united in marriage to Nick Smilonich on April 5, 1940 in Aitkin, MN. She lived in Trommald, in Crow Wing County, MN until 2012 when she moved to The Madison Assisted Living in Detroit Lakes.

She was employed at the Clark Witter Law Office in Crosby. In Brainerd she worked at the Crow Win County Planning and Zoning Office, Erickson-Braun Insurance and Mississippi Adjusting.

Eileen served on the Cuyuna Range Hospital Board, and was a member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Crosby.

She is survived by two sons, Nicki (Phyllis) of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA and Moorhead, MN, David (Andrea) of Detroit Lakes, and one daughter Nadeen "Sue" (Timothy) Briggs of Glenwood. She also leaves four grandchildren, Michael (Melissa) Smilonich of Columbus, OH, Stefani (Dave) Anderson of Bagley, Tina Briggs of Blaine and Brandon (Lisa) Smilonich of Thompson, ND; and four great grandchildren, Marianna and Marshall Smilonich , Elizabeth and Nickolas Anderson.

Eileen is preceded in death by her husband on September 16, 1979; her parents; step-father, Carl O. Risnes; a brother, Robert T. Thompson; three half-brothers, Lawrence, Carl and John Risnes; and one granddaughter, Jill Miller.

Funeral services will be 11:30 am on Saturday, October 4, 2014 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Crosby. Burial will be at the Lakewood Cemetery in Crosby. Visitation will be on Saturday from 10:00 am until the time of services at the church. Arrangements are with the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby.