Eleanor Lucille Inich (Poppleton), age 96, was born August 1, 1928 in Lead, South Dakota to her parents, Charles & Grace Poppleton. She passed away on Sunday, March 2, 2025 from complications of Dementia.

Grew up in South Dakota with her five older siblings, Alan Poppleton, Lola Poppleton, Fay Steger (Poppleton), Ralph Poppleton and Wayne Poppleton. Eleanor met her husband, Elmer Inich through their church in Newcastle, Wyoming.  Elmer proudly served in the United States Army where he fought overseas in the Korean Conflict.  After his return, he and Eleanor married on October 7, 1953. They raised four children, Charles Inich, Robert Inich, Douglas Inich and Susan Inich-Hernandez in Anacortes and Sedro Woolley Washington.

Eleanor worked for the Washington Dept. of Game and Fisheries before her retirement in 1986.  Subsequently, she moved to Republic, Washington where she and her husband opened and ran a secondhand store called Discovery.

Eleanor was a lay pastor for several years and throughout her life she served in multiple leadership roles, and as a Sunday School teacher in various churches.

Eleanor was proceeded in death by her five siblings, by her son Charles in 2014, and husband Elmer in 2018. She is survived by children Robert (Susan), Douglas (Vicky) and Susan as well as nine grandchildren, Michael (Heather) Inich, Benjamin Inich, Mark Inich, Holly Neblett, Mandy (Alan) Knapp, Joshua Inich, Jackie (Skyler) Lewis, Alyssa Dye, and Melanie Glasgow and many great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 9:00 am to 11:00 am Tuesday, March 11 at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home followed by a Burial Service at 12:30 pm at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, SD.

Some stories/highlights in her life:

Love to spend time with her family camping and fishing in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State.  In the summer on any given day when she got off work and had a few days to relax, the truck and trailer were loaded up and we were off, many times just some 20-30 miles from home to camp along a creek or lake.  Mom not only engaged us to learn from dad on how to fish or start a fire, but she also spent countless hours reading and teaching us from the Bible.  Many a night would be spent singing hymns and mom & dad would tell us a bible story or maybe a good family story.

Eleanor served in many roles within the Anacortes and Sedro Woolley Church of Christ.  Mom taught during Sunday School and in many of the classes her children were attendees.

Living in Anacortes we were right on the upper Puget Sound in the San Juan Islands.  A great memory was going out at low tide to catch crabs.  In just an hour or so, we would have 6-10 nice Dungeness Crabs to take home.  Clams, Oysters, Saltwater fish, Salmon and trout from the lakes and creeks were on the menu a lot.

In November 2015 when Eleanor and her husband Elmer arrived in KC, in her new home, we were walking to show her new room.  She quickly made friends with several people and was well respected by everyone.

She always looked forward to Sunday church services and on many occasions, we would join her.  She loved to sing the hymns, receive communion, and prayer for everyone.  It was amazing with her memory loss how much she retained the memory of hymns and the scriptures.  Mom was gifted with speaking in tongues.  Many employees would ask me what other languages she spoke; I would tell them this she was just her praying in tongues for people in the area.