Elna Josephine Rosenquist was born in Clay County on October 31, 1900, to parents Emma and Joseph Rosenquist. She had three older siblings, Luella, Esther and Frithjof.  Archie, Victor, Harold, Leona, Albert, Peggy and Ruth were born later.  A year earlier the family had moved from Illinois to the Downer-Glyndon area.  Elna soon learned that in a large family on a farm there was a lot of work to be done.  She helped where needed, whether in the kitchen or with field work.  She became gifted at sewing and remodeling clothes for herself and other family members.  Later she was employed by a milliner's shop, designing and sewing ladies hats.  She also made several beautiful sofa pillows using the very fine velvet fabric used for the hats.

Bill Lebeda lived in the same general area and they got acquainted at house parties where he played the accordion for the dances.  When he left for work in Nebraska and Colorado, Elna corresponded with him.  Elna's brother Archie was working with Bill and when they decided to get married, Elna and Grandma Rosenquist drove to Columbus, Nebraska, and were met by Bill and Archie.  Elna and Bill were married on July 12, 1925 at the parsonage and then traveled on to Colorado.  Archie brought Grandma back to Downer before returning to work.  They lived there for about two years while Bill helped build the Moffett tunnel, a seven-mile railroad tunnel through the Rockie Mountains at the continental divide.  It was there that Dale was born.  Elna loved the mountains, but the big depression was coming on and jobs were shutting down, so they returned to Clay County.  They rented farms for about twelve years while Elna had Gary, Lavoane and Joe.  Bill farmed, did carpenter work and worked for Kost Brothers, a gravel-cement company.  Luella and Walter had moved to Minerva because of the good school and Elna and Bill decided to leave "The Prairie" and move to "The Woods."  They found 40 acres of tax-forfeit land which was all wooded.  After clearing enough land, they built half a house.  Later they added the other half.  With the depression still on, Elna's sewing , gardening and canning abilities were really life-saving.  She even sewed clothes from the fabric that flour and sugar came in, trying to buy several with the same pattern.  It wasn't all work.  She liked to do "fancy work" - crocheting, knitting, quilting, flower arranging and entering things at the fair where she earned many blue ribbons.  She was active in the garden club, homemakers and her church.  She took first aid classes and wrapped bandages during the war.  She even built a stone and cement fireplace and a stone wishing well.

She was a very caring mother who was able to discipline and train while she went about her daily work.  She was very patient with children and let each know they were special to her.

They lived in Minerva Township until Bill got a job with a church builder and they traveled with the job to many states.  The boss had Bill do the final touches and stay for the dedication services, because he knew they attended church regularly.  They returned to Minerva and bought Grandma Rosenquist's house from Althea.  They weren't there for many years when Elna passed away from injuries from a house fire on March 25, 1974.

By Lavoane (Lebeda) Meyer