Elaine Erdmann Kernodle

Elaine Marguerite (Erdmann) Kernodle, 103, passed away peacefully on March 1, 2025, in South Bend, Indiana, after residing in the Michiana area since 1971.

Elaine was born on August 10, 1921, in West DePere, Wisconsin, daughter of the late Clara Agnes (Shalhoub) and the late Dr. Winford Carl Erdmann. She graduated from Green Bay East High School and later earned her RN degree from St. Mary’s School of Nursing, associated with the Mayo Clinic. She married Captain Harold Lee Kernodle (USAF) of Hampden Sydney, Virginia, on April 11, 1946. Elaine subsequently received her Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) certificate from the Medical College of Virginia, as one of the pioneering women in this profession. She practiced as a CRNA in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Elaine enjoyed gardening; traveling and visiting her U.K. friends; attending Ontario Stratford Festival Theatre plays; collecting antiques; caring for multiple generations of cats; feeding/watching the wildlife in her backyard; and being with her family. She was a long-time member of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Niles, Michigan.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Joan (Kernodle) and David Trushin of West Chicago, Illinois; by Joshua Isaacs of Chicago, Illinois, the son of her son-in-law, Kenneth Isaacs; by her sister, Virginia Mae (Ginnie) Erdmann of Green Bay, Wisconsin; and by a special second cousin, Ellen Fuhriman, of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

She was preceded in death by her husband in September 1949; by her daughter, Sara Louise Isaacs in October 2019; and son-in-law, Kenneth Dale Isaacs in June 2016.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Elaine’s memory may be made to the ASPCA or to the International Wolf Center.