Norm and Joyce Ellefson Endowed Scholarship
The Norm and Joyce Ellefson Endowed Scholarship supports De Soto High School graduates attending Western Technical College. It expresses our gratitude for the opportunities provided to us by the De Soto Area School District and Western Technical College.
Norm was born in Ferryville, Wisconsin, to Clinton and Norma (Worman) Ellefson. His next-door neighbor was a commercial fisherman, and when Norm was only six years old, he would take him out on the river. The river became a very important part of Norm’s youth, and as soon as he could, he began fishing on his own. The money he earned from fishing during the summers helped pay for a substantial part of his college education.
Joyce was born in De Soto to Albert and Edna (Sallander) Munson and graduated from De Soto High School in 1955. De Soto High School opened for the 1952–53 school year. That same year, Norm transferred from Seneca to De Soto as a junior, while Joyce attended all four years in the new school. Her freshman year was spent in the upper two rooms of the old school with the entire freshman class. The Class of 1955 was the first class to attend De Soto High School for all four years.
One night in the spring of 1953, after a school activity, Norm asked Joyce if he could walk her home. They became high school sweethearts, and what followed was a love that lasted 70 years, until Norm’s death in December 2023. After dating for four years following high school, they were married in 1958. Two sons would make their family complete.
Norm graduated from De Soto High School in 1954. He went on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science, double majoring in Mathematics and Industrial Education. His first teaching job was in Cassville, Wisconsin, during the 1959–60 school year, but he chose not to return the following year. For the 1960–61 school year, he was offered a teaching position at De Soto, his alma mater, and they were thrilled. He remained at De Soto for the next eight years and often remarked that those were some of his most enjoyable years of teaching. In 1967, Norm earned a Master of Science in Mathematics from Southern Illinois University.
Norm accepted a contract to teach mathematics at Western Technical College beginning with the 1967–68 school year. He retired from Western in 1998 after 30 years. Norm loved teaching; his students liked and respected him, and he was an excellent educator.
While teaching in La Crosse and living in De Soto, Norm also served on the De Soto Area School District Board of Education. During some of those years, he served as president of the Board.
Joyce’s career began after high school at Allis-Chalmers, where she worked from 1955 to 1961. In the spring of 1961, she began working at the De Soto Area Schools as the bookkeeper and secretary to the superintendent. After eight years, she left to return to school. In 1974, she began working at Western Technical College as a secretary in the Apprenticeship Department, where she remained until retiring in 1998.
The De Soto area remains important to us. One of our sons and his wife live in the Rush Creek area near Ferryville, and our grandson and his family have a home outside of De Soto.
De Soto Area Schools and Western Technical College were such important parts of our lives and wonderful places to work. We hope this scholarship will be a way to show our appreciation for the opportunities each afforded us.