Eleanor G. Hammes Connell, died on December 9, 2023, at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca.

Eleanor was born on June 27, 1926, to Joe and Emma (Huerter) Wichman on a farm south of Seneca.  Her family moved to Seneca in 1937 when Eleanor was in 5th grade.  She graduated from Sts. Peter & Paul High School in 1944.  She married Eugene Hammes on Nov. 3, 1948, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.  Gene and Eleanor had 4 children Dan (Shirley) Seneca, Alice Trower (Ted) Ann Arbor, MI., Doug (Ronda) Hammes and Jim (Julie) Hammes both of Seneca.

Eleanor worked at the A & P grocery store until 1950 and after that only part time for a few years. Most of her adult life she was a homemaker and did the bookkeeping for Gene’s trucking business.  Eleanor was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church and the St. Ann’s Altar Society.

She loved playing cards, puzzles, gardening and spending time with her family. She and Gene enjoyed traveling and did so frequently with their dear friends Larry and Mary Ann Holsapple prior to Genes death on July 16, 1987. Her home was always welcoming to all generations, and she was known as Grandma Gertie to everyone.

Eleanor remarried David Connell of Leavenworth, KS on July 29, 2006.  They had 10 wonderful years together until David passed away July 20, 2017.

Besides her parents, husbands, she was preceded in death by her son, Dan on July 12, 2018; brothers, Joe Wichman on December 30, 1995, and Don Wichman on May 9, 2005; and a sister, Jean Scott on September 4, 1999.

Eleanor has 9 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren with another on the way. Her stepfamily includes stepchildren David, Steve, Michael and John Connell, Clarice Phillips, Carol Hayes, Karen Bouwman, Linda Moore, and their children and grandchildren.

A rosary will be prayed at 7 P.M. on Monday, December 11, 2023, at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 AM on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca. The burial will be in church cemetery, and she will be laid to rest next to her husband Gene.

Memorials may be given in Eleanors memory to Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, sent in care of the family.