Home > United States of America > South Dakota > Dewey County > Eagle Butte > Eagle Butte Cemetery > Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo

Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo

View larger map

1 / 3

2 / 3

3 / 3

❮ ❯

Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo

Birth	:	25 May 1924 Firesteel, Dewey County, South Dakota, USA
Death	:	18 Feb 2005 Dunedin, Pinellas County, Florida, USA
Burial	:	Eagle Butte Cemetery, Eagle Butte, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate	:	45.0144005, -101.2572021
Plot	:	Block 1 Lot 3 Grave 1
Description	:	Ione Mader Bellissimo passed away February 18, 2005, at Dunedin, FL. Funeral mass was at 10:30 a .m. on February 28, 2005 at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church in Safety Harbor, FL. Internment was in the Eagle Butte Cemetery on July 1, 2005. She is survived by her husband, Steve, of Safe Harbor; two sons, Charles (Ann) Bellissimo, Oldsmar, FL, Brian, Sr. (Sue), Orlando, FL; grandchildren, Desiree and Tiffany Bellissimo and Brian Jr. Bellissimo, two sisters, Shirley (Paul) Hinzman, Pierre, and twin sister, Irene Stewart, Augusta, GA; and one brother, Charles (Lois) Mader, Rapid City, SD and numerous nieces... Read More	Ione Mader Bellissimo passed away February 18, 2005, at Dunedin, FL. Funeral mass was at 10:30 a .m. on February 28, 2005 at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church in Safety Harbor, FL. Internment was in the Eagle Butte Cemetery on July 1, 2005. She is survived by her husband, Steve, of Safe Harbor; two sons, Charles (Ann) Bellissimo, Oldsmar, FL, Brian, Sr. (Sue), Orlando, FL; grandchildren, Desiree and Tiffany Bellissimo and Brian Jr. Bellissimo, two sisters, Shirley (Paul) Hinzman, Pierre, and twin sister, Irene Stewart, Augusta, GA; and one brother, Charles (Lois) Mader, Rapid City, SD and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, one sister, DElores, and one borther-in-law Bill Stewart. As gentle and shy as my mother's personality could be, I always thought of her as the strongest woman that I knew. She was never afraid to try something. When you look at her life you can understand how she got that way. Ione was an identical twin, born prematurely in a farmhouse in rural Firesteel, South Dakota on May 25, 1924. Her twin sister, Irene, at 4 lbs. pounds and Ione, the younger of the twins, at 3 1/2 lbs. at birth, were placed in shoeboxes after birth and on the oven door to act as an incubator. They were fed cream from cow's milk to nurture them. She was four years old when she moved to the family ranch outside of Eagle Butte, SD. They had no electricity or running water and, with her sisters Irene and Shirley and brother Charles rode two horses to a one room schoolhouse. The schoolhouse also had no electricity or running water and only a potbelly stove in the middle of the classroom for heat. When Ione talked of that experience she bragged about what a great education she received. High school was in Eagle Butte, eleven miles away so they lived in a dorm with 18 other farm girls and went home on weekends. Ione worked part time as a telephone operator in those old telephone switches with the manual connection cords. Though it sounded like a stark existence, she remembers having a fun childhood with everything they needed. Always a caregiver, Ione organized her sisters to take turns living with their Grandma and Grandpa Van Brocklin during the many years of Grandma's illness. Aunt Shirley told me that Ione always took the longest shifts and was always volunteering to do any work that everyone else saw as distasteful such as ironing. The one chore she hated doing, but did, was milking cows. She especially hated it when they swatted her with their tails. Ione graduated from Eagle Butte High School in 1942, during the war years. At 18, she went to Sioux Falls, SD and was trained as a welder then sent to defense work job as a spot welder in Milkwaukee--a real live "Rosie the riveter." She was also a professional beauty operator. Over the next 3 years she lived and worked there with her sister Irene and another girl from South Dakota. The only contact they had with home was by letter and the occasional 800+mile trip home by train. It was on one of those train rides back to Milwaukee, in a car overfilled with sailors and soldiers heading home on leave, that she met her future husband, Steve, a Naval Petty Officer 2nd class, ordered the seamen sitting on the train to give up their seats for the ladies. After that meeting in the spring of 1944, Ione and Steve began writing each other. About a year later they married at Holy Angels Church in Buffalo, NY. After a one night honeymoon in Niagara Falls they moved to San Francisco until after the war was over. Ione then moved to Buffalo, New York into an Italian American family of eight siblings-quite a cultural shock for a Dutch/German-Scotch-Irish farm girl from the Midwest. In 1976 I married and moved with my new wife to Clearwater, Florida. Remembering how much her mother and father missed in her life, Mom knew what she had to do to be a part of our lives and especially any grandchildren's lives. In 1977, she convinced my father and younger brother, Brian, to relocate in Florida. Mom was also the most creative and open person I've known. Sewing clothes from patterns; making drapes from scratch; knitting sweaters, hats and gloves; macrame decoupage; canning fruit; wallpapering; quilting; needlepoint' cross stitch; embroidery and beading. And she was a very creative cook. And she would share. It never seemed we were being taught, she only inspired our curiosity, then fed it.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo's memorial?
Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo's memorial is located at: Eagle Butte Cemetery, Eagle Butte, Dewey County, USA.
When did Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo death?
Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo death on 18 Feb 2005 in Dunedin, Pinellas County, Florida, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Ione Gertrude Mader Bellissimo's memorial?
Latitude: 45.0144005
Longitude: -101.2572021

Family Members:

Parent

Clarence George Mader

(1897 - 1971)

Anna Leta Van Brocklin Mader

(1900 - 1988)

Siblings

Shirley Irma Mader Hinzman

(1925 - 2022)

Charles Walter “Chuck” Mader

(1926 - 2017)

Anna Delores Mader

(1932 - 1933)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Eagle Butte Cemetery
Eagle Butte, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.0144005, -101.2572021

2. Saint Marks Cemetery
Dupree, Ziebach County, USA
Coordinate: 44.9394181, -101.2806975

3. Lantry Cemetery
Lantry, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.0085983, -101.4300003

4. Saint James Cemetery
Bear Creek, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.0456009, -101.4555969

5. Green Grass Cemetery
Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.1613998, -101.2557983

6. On The Tree Cemetery
Eagle Butte, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.1859930, -101.0673350

7. Dupree Cemetery
Dupree, Ziebach County, USA
Coordinate: 45.0519000, -101.5960000

8. Saint Basils Cemetery
Ridgeview, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.0378290, -100.8947140

9. Saint Andrews Episcopal Cemetery
Cherry Creek, Ziebach County, USA
Coordinate: 45.1033670, -101.6397400

10. Dupris Congregational Mission Cemetery
Eagle Butte, Ziebach County, USA
Coordinate: 44.7067440, -101.2397710

11. Walking Horse Cemetery
Parade, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 44.7338642, -101.0181952

12. Looking Horse Cemetery
Green Grass, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 44.7338982, -101.0177994

13. Rousseau Cemetery
Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 44.7435989, -100.9933014

14. Buffalo Cemetery
Cherry Creek, Ziebach County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6911011, -101.3653030

15. Saint Josephs Cemetery
Ridgeview, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.0821991, -100.7925034

16. Lindsay Cemetery
Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 44.7188988, -101.0000000

17. Saint Luke Cemetery
Ziebach County, USA
Coordinate: 45.2224998, -101.6580963

18. Emmanuel Episcopal Cemetery
Whitehorse, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.2649994, -100.8538971

19. Red Elm Cemetery
Ziebach County, USA
Coordinate: 45.0463982, -101.7919006

20. Saint Theresa Catholic Cemetery
Whitehorse, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.2695385, -100.8588241

21. Robbs Flat Cemetery
Haakon County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6114006, -101.3167038

22. Hillview Cemetery
Isabel, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.3992004, -101.4449997

23. Rushs Enemy Cemetery
Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.1347008, -100.6763992

24. Timber Lake Cemetery
Timber Lake, Dewey County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4296570, -101.0577011