Alice L. Tellock, age 95 of Clintonville, passed away early Saturday morning, July 31, 2021, at Greentree Health & Rehabilitation Center, Clintonville.
Alice Lenore Tellock was born to William “Bill” Boyer and Ruth Haggard Boyer in West Frankfort, IL, on Feb 22, 1926. She graduated from Frankfort Community High School, West Frankfort, IL, June 1944. After graduation, she went to work for the US Treasury, in Chicago, IL until World War II ended. She was then offered a job with the FBI, but decided to work in health care at Franklin Boulevard Hospital in Chicago, IL; where she met her future sister-in-law Eileen Bradshaw. She was then introduced to Ben Tellock who farmed the family farm on Hwy. 22 west of Clintonville in the Town of Union, near Bear Creek. Ben and Alice married June 12, 1948 in Chicago in a Lutheran Church that Ben’s sister had attended. After the loss of the farm due to a fire, they moved to Appleton where Ben worked in construction as a finishing carpenter, and Alice worked at the county hospital in Appleton in the Golden Age wing. Later, she served as an administrator for a 26 bed personal care home in Manawa in the 1960’s. Alice’s love of working with the elderly had developed and she soon suggested to her husband that they build a nursing home in Clintonville and it would be a family project.
In 1965, Alice and Ben opened Greentree Health Care Center, with 78 beds, located on Greentree Road, in Clintonville. The residents became like family and the Tellock children Lynn and Clyde helped with the operation early on. Alice enjoyed her time at Greentree, always remembering the wonderful people that were in her care. She treated every resident as part of her family, appreciating and respecting all of them. Alice, and a dear friend and co-worker Florence Caskey, introduced the first support group for Alzheimer’s in the area. In 1980, Ben and Alice transferred the business to their children and they retired to California. After five years of retirement, Ben passed away suddenly on January 1, 1984. Alice then moved to Atlanta where she became active in the Georgia Nursing Home Association. After five years she moved back to Clintonville. At this time the Clintonville hospital had closed and the attached nursing home needed an Administrator. Alice answered the call to serve for 17 months. Friends and relatives will remember her as an innovator and ahead of her time in the care for the elderly. She dedicated most of her life to taking care of the elderly. Even in later years, she had her own computer and cell phone so she could keep up to date with current events. She communicated with her legislators to offer her opinions and concerns on health care issues. Alice served on the Peer Review Board for the Wisconsin Nursing Home Association. She served on a seven county Health Care Advisory Board head quartered in Oshkosh. She was named an Honorary member of “Who’s Who Among Outstanding Americans for 1995-96.” After completing her position as administrator of the Behling Nursing Home, she moved to Arizona because the dry heat would be good for her arthritis. Twelve years later and after extensive travel, Alice moved back to Clintonville to be with family and friends. She was deeply saddened when her granddaughter Jennifer was killed in a car accident at the age of 21. Alice is a member of St. Martin Lutheran Church in Clintonville where she had served on the Stewardship Committee and conducted Grief Support Classes. Alice has always enjoyed music and especially playing her Lowry organ. She was a volunteer reader in the nursing home when she was able.
She is survived by a son Clyde Tellock, rural Clintonville; daughter, Lynn (Robert) Knorr, rural Clintonville; grandson, Timothy Knorr, Green Bay; great-granddaughter, Piper Knorr; sister, Barbara (John) Arnold, W. Frankforth, IL. She is also survived by nieces and nephews Alice was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Ben; a granddaughter, Jennifer Lynn Knorr; a brother, Harold (Ora Alice) Boyer; sisters-in-law, Dorothy (Leo) Werth and Eilene Bradshaw.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at St. Martin Lutheran Church, Clintonville with the Rev. Brian Weber officiating. Entombment will take place at Greenlawn Memorial Park, Neenah, WI, on Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 10 a.m. Visitation will take place at church on Wednesday from 1 p.m. until the time of service. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Alice’s name are preferred to be directed to the Tellock family for a memorial to be established at a later date.The Eberhardt-Stevenson Funeral Home & Crematory, Clintonville, has been entrusted with the arrangements. An online guestbook is available at eberhardtstevenson.com.
The Tellock family would like to thank the staff of Greentree Health & Rehabilitation Center and ThedaCare At Home Hospice, for the care given to Alice during her time there. The Eberhardt-Stevenson Funeral Home & Crematory, Clintonville, has been entrusted with the arrangements.