Ila Elna Gaston, age 88, of Wall Lake, Iowa passed away at her home on Saturday, July 21, 2007, surrounded by her children.

Memorial services will be held for Ila at 11:00 a.m., on Monday, September 10th, at Peace Lutheran Church in Wall Lake. Burial will be at the Ames Municipal Cemetery, Ames, Iowa. The Farber & Otteman Funeral Home in Wall Lake is in charge of arrangements. There will be no visitation.

Ila Beese was born on January 28, 1919, the daughter of Hans and Emma (Friedrichsen) Beese, in Carroll County near Manning, Iowa. She was baptized December 9, 1923, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Audubon County and confirmed October 13, 1935, at Zion Lutheran Church in Manning by Rev. J. M. Ansorge. She attended country schools near Manning, graduated from Manning High School in 1937, and from Thompson School of Cosmetology in Des Moines in 1939. She moved to Ames where she was employed at Velma & Thelma’s Salon. On June 21, 1941, Ila married Carl Elmer Lindquist and in 1945 they moved to Nevada, Iowa, where she owned a beauty salon for five years. In 1950, a son, Steven, was born to this union. She sold the shop and moved to Storm Lake and was employed at Gaston’s Beauty Salon. She returned to Ames and was employed at Carolyn’s Salon. On November 4, 1956, she married James Gaston in Ames. They owned and operated the Gaston Beauty Salon on East Lakeshore Drive in Storm Lake for many years. Two children were born to this union, Jillea in 1957 and Jon in 1958. She also worked at the Anthony Department Store in Storm Lake. Ila was a Sunday School teacher at the Storm Lake United Methodist Church and a Camp Fire Girl Leader. She resided in Ames after her retirement. Ila was a member of Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames. In 2004, she moved to Wall Lake to be near her daughter.

She is survived by two sons: Steven and wife Ronda Gaston of Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Jon and wife Ruby Gaston of Altus, Oklahoma; daughter, Jillea and husband Steve Hedberg of Wall Lake, Iowa; grandchildren, Brice Gaston, Stacy (John) Webster, Sarah (Nate) Anderson, Christina (Ricky) Rose, and Timothy Gaston; sister-in-law, Virginia Beese of Ames, Iowa; and many extended family members.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Carl Lindquist and Jim Gaston; two brothers, Merlin Beese and sister-in-law Viola Brown, and Fred Beese; and a sister, Alice Kellogg and brother-in-law, Wendell Kellogg.

She has donated her body for research to the University of Iowa. She had open heart surgery there in 1976 to replace the aorta valve that was damaged when she had rheumatic fever at age 12. She has had this same plastic valve for over 30 years.

Ila had many hobbies including: sewing, quilting, crocheting, reading, feeding the birds, playing solitaire with her miniature cards, watching the Chicago Cubs, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Iowa State Cyclones, and making book marks and donating them to libraries, churches and friends.