MARY ELLEN LAPHAM

Mary Ellen Lapham Mary Ellen (Billhorn) Lapham, 87, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 7, at Gundersen Health System after suffering a heart attack two days prior. Mary Ellen was born to parents Alfred and Wilma (Anderson) Billhorn on January 19, 1933, in Manchester, Iowa. She was raised on their family farm, along with her two brothers Don and Jon. She married Lyle Lapham of Caledonia on July 3, 1954, and they made their home on the Lapham family farm on Portland Prairie, just south of Caledonia. Together, they raised six children on the farm. Lyle and Mary Ellen later moved to Caledonia in 1983. Mary Ellen began her teaching career in 1951, teaching for four years in Iowa before moving to the Caledonia school district, where she taught for 31 years. She received her Masters in Education from the University of Minnesota in 1989. She was a beloved kindergarten and first grade teacher to many Caledonia youth before retiring in 1997. She was a 50-year member of Aidenn Chapter #86 Order of the Eastern Star, and an active member of the Caledonia United Methodist Church. Mary Ellen and Lyle found great joy in traveling. Some highlights include traveling to Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, in 1987, to visit Lyle when he was volunteering there through US AID. She also traveled to Tunisia with two good teacher friends, Laurel Rusert and Kathy Danaher, to visit her daughter Coleen in the Peace Corps. She and Lyle traveled across Europe, including visiting relatives in Sweden and Denmark. Mary Ellen and Lyle taught English in Wenzhou and Hanzhou, China, from 1998-2001. The couple enjoyed their retirement years at their winter home in McAllen, Texas. Mary Ellen spent the last year and a half living at Claddagh Senior Living in Caledonia, and enjoyed visiting with the other residents there. The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Carmel and the staff at Claddagh for taking such good care of her. Mary Ellen is preceded in death by her husband Lyle, who passed away in 2007. She is survived by her brothers Jon (Barb) Billhorn of DeWitt, Iowa, and Don (Mary Lou) Billhorn of Readlyn, Iowa; foster son Joseph (Jane) Hayes, children Deborah (Charles) Wray, Loren (Carol) Lapham, Wesley (Carrie) Lapham, Steven Lapham, all of Caledonia, and Coleen (John) Pinkowski of Kirksville, Missouri; daughters-in-law Sharen Lapham and Lisa Lapham; 14 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren (with another on the way). Due to COVID-19, the family will hold a memorial service at a later date. To share your memories of Mary Ellen with the family, please post on the McCormick Funeral Home page

MARY ELLEN LAPHAM

January 19, 1933 - April 7, 2020