Eloise Sperati, 86

Blair native Eloise Sperati, 86, of Parkersburg, W. Va., died March 12, 2003, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Parkersburg.

Funeral services were March 18 at First Lutheran Church in Decorah, Iowa, with interment in the Lutheran Cemetery.

Margaret Eloise Morris Sperati was born March 13, 1917, in Blair to Harry L. and Louise (Eller) Morris.

She graduated from Blair High School in 1934, attended Dana College in Blair, and graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1938. From 1938 until 1939, she worked in the Luther College Library where she met her future husband. She received her library science degree in 1940 from the University of Illinois, after which she worked in the Library of Congress as an associate editor of the 14h Edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification System.

She married Carleton A. Sperati on June 1, 1941, at First Lutheran Church in Decorah, Iowa. The couple lived in northern New Jersey and Wilmington, Del., where she worked at the Resource Center of the Alexis I. DuPont High School. She had resided in Parkersburg since 1972.

She had life-long interests in travel, gourmet cooking, bird watching, reading and textile arts.

She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Blair, and was a member of First Lutheran Church in Parkersburg.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Carleton A. Sperati of Parkersburg, W. Va.; two sons and daughters-in-law, Dr. Robert and Sonnie Sperati of Heemstede, The Netherlands, and William and Betty Sperati of Wilmington, Del.; a daughter and son-in-law, Solveig and Dr. Leon Korte of Vermillion, S.D.; seven grandchildren and their spouses; and two great-grandchildren.

Memorials are suggested to the Dr. Carlo A. Sperati Memorial Music Scholarship at Luther College, Dana College, or the charity of the donor’s choice.

Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah was in charge of arrangements.