Eila Trudgeon Whelchel was born in Estacada, Oregon, on January 5, 1927, to Nelson Guy and Tiney Catherine (Carver) Trudgeon. Her early life was shaped by the Great Depression, which prompted the family’s move to Jerome, Idaho, when Eila was four years old. During the 1930s, they lived in the Boise Valley, and the family eventually grew to include her younger sisters, Mary Viola and Joyce Ann. During this era, her father and grandfather both worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The family later moved to the Tacoma area, where her father worked as an electrician in the shipyards during World War II. Eila graduated from Roy High School in 1945. During the summer of her junior year, she contributed to the war effort at Boeing as a “gooper/bucker” helping to make B-29s. In the summer of 1945, she worked at Madigan General Hospital at Fort Lewis as soldiers returned from war. She began in the kitchen before being moved to a forty-man wing of an eighty-man ward, where she cared for men of all ages, many of whom were in their early twenties. Some of Eila’s most enlightening memories were from her time in the leg ward where she would serve meals to wounded soldiers.

A trip to Idaho to visit a friend led Eila to a job with a telephone company and a meeting with Lloyd Eugene Whelchel while he was on furlough from the army. They were married in September 1947. Eila was a dedicated homemaker and a talented writer. In her own words, she once asked Lloyd if he remembered: “Together we had four lovely children for whom our pride still bursts out in thankfulness. You made sure, as time went along, that I obtained a college education and that I was able to develop what talents I had hiding somewhere. I helped you to achieve your graduate education and backed you in all your decisions to achieve what we, together, believed was God’s Will in our lives.”

Eila received her BA from Long Beach State College and a teaching credential from the State of Oregon. While living in Portland, where Lloyd taught at Warner Pacific College, Eila served as the Christian Education Director for the Richmond Church of God. Moving to Pullman in the 1970s, she began a 22-year career at Washington State University, rising to become the Secretary of the University Faculty Senate before retiring in 1995.

In retirement, Eila and Lloyd traveled in their 5th wheel, visiting family and enjoying the outdoors. They remained lifelong active members of their faith at the Church of God in Moscow, ID. Following Lloyd’s death in 2010, Eila remained in Pullman. In 2012, she wrote a book entitled “Threads of Our Inheritance”, a gift to her family so that “each may know one strand of the complex whole of his or her life.”

Eila spent the last years of her life in the home of her daughter, Rebecca, and son-in-law, Jim, in Waitsburg, WA. Her final months were spent at Rivers Walk Assisted Living Facility in Dayton, WA, supported by family and a loving staff. Rebecca (with Jim at her side) held Eila in her arms as she took her last breath at 8:06 am on April 13, 2026. She is now reunited with Lloyd, her parents, and her grandparents through the grace of Jesus.

Eila is survived by her sisters, Mary Viola and Joyce Ann; children, David Lavern Whelchel (Susan), Marie Annette Barnes, Rebecca Suzanne Wilson (James), Paul Eugene Whelchel; grandchildren, Aaron Whelchel (Shae), George Barnes (Samantha), Holly Menino Elmer (Joel Elmer), Kelsey Valbert (Duane Valbert), Kristel Tingzon, Genevieve Menino Zeka (Zach Zeka),Emily McHie (Quinn McHie); great grandchildren, Anthony, Rowen, Zachary, Hudson, Eva, Alice, Leo, Viviana, and Lily.

In lieu of flowers or other gifts, please consider making a monetary donation to Rivers Walk Assisted Living Facility in Dayton, WA for staff development or items to support the care of the residents.