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Memorial services for Ellsworth Lowell Hein, 89, of Fairview, will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, February 20, 2016 at the Church of the Nazarene of Isabella, Oklahoma; the Rev. Nathen Twyman will officiate. Arrangements are by Fairview Funeral Home, Inc., with burial being in the Fairview Cemetery.
Ellsworth Lowell Hein was born September 3, 1926 at Isabella, Oklahoma to Fred Hein and Esther Rosina (Schale) Hein and passed away February 12, 2016 at the Fairview Regional Medical Center in Fairview, Oklahoma.
After attending Peerless School through the Eighth Grade, Ellsworth attended Fairview High School, during which time he was a part of the high school track team which set a couple of state track records that remained unsurpassed until recent years. In 1948 he achieved the American Farmer Degree as a member of Fairview’s Future Farmers of America chapter, still the highest recognition awarded by the national FFA organization. The details of the extent of his involvement in the feat of getting a cow up to the third floor of the old high school building for understandable reasons remain a bit elusive, and probably long forgotten by most, but it was likely quite a mooooving experience for the faculty and administration! He graduated from Fairview High in 1944.
Ellsworth’s love for singing began to manifest itself in the high school years with his participation in a men’s quartet which, because of their performances at the county jail, became known as the Jailhouse Quartet.
On August 29, 1945 Ellsworth enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an Aviation Electronic Technician’s Mate. After his honorable discharge on January 8, 1948 he attended Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, where he met Helen Mae Kaufeldt; they married at OBU on September 14, 1951. After graduating from OBU, Ellsworth obtained his bachelor’s degree in church music from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas; during his time at seminary he served as music minister at First Baptist Church, Grapevine, Texas, with Helen at his side playing the piano, until graduating in 1956.
In 1956 Ellsworth and Helen returned to the Fairview area, where he spent most of his life farming and raising hogs, cattle, wheat and feed grains. He especially loved the big farm equipment and was one of the first in Oklahoma to purchase a large 4WD John Deere 8010 tractor when it came on the market, utilizing it to build terraces and protected waterways on all of the family farm land and receiving cost reimbursement payments from the governmental agricultural agencies incentivizing conservation farming practices.
For the first 17 of those years back in Fairview he served as the full-time volunteer music minister at First Baptist Church, Fairview, Oklahoma, and later served in the same capacity at other smaller area churches. During those and subsequent years he further developed his passion for singing and leading in a public setting, and was known for his powerful singing voice, his commanding stage presence, and his choir and congregational leadership abilities. Two of Ellsworth’s favorite songs to sing as specials for church services were “He Touched Me” and “The Holy City”; when he would get to the chorus of “The Holy City” and sing the chorus “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Hark! How the angels sing! Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to your King!”, his booming voice combined with Helen’s heavy-handed revival-style of piano accompaniment would captivate the congregation; one long-time church member even remarked that they remembered the stained-glass windows in the old FBC sanctuary rattling when Ellsworth’s full vocal range peaked during such glorious and inspiring specials.
Ellsworth acquired a love of fishing from his mother; he would spend hours in a small boat trolling for walleye or sand bass at Canton Lake, or fishing with her home-made stink bait along the shore or in the stilling basin. He also loved to travel, and regardless of what he was involved in, he loved people and was extremely gregarious and outgoing, possessing the ability to carry on a conversation with nearly anyone from any walk of life. He never met a stranger, even while directing the music portion of numerous mission trips and crusades to Holland, South Korea, Mexico, India and several states across the U.S.
Ellsworth also developed a passion for photography, and shot many weddings and other functions; for several years he photographed the majority of activities at Fairview Schools and provided most of the photos for the school yearbooks, sporting events and newspaper coverage of school-related functions.
Few people were indifferent in their opinion of Ellsworth; many loved him and considered him a good friend, and as is often the case with extroverted people and people with natural leadership abilities, some inevitably became frustrated with his outgoing nature and inclination to take charge in group settings.
He is survived by his wife Helen Mae (Kaufeldt) Hein of Fairview; son Fred Lowell Hein and wife Alana of Edmond, Oklahoma; daughter Michelle Renee (Hein) Hernandez and husband Moises of Fairview, Oklahoma; and son Carl Ellsworth Hein and wife Samantha of Catoosa, Oklahoma; seven grandchildren, Autumn Michelle (Hein) Ross and husband Desmond of Enid, Oklahoma; Baylee Michelle (Hernandez) Baker and husband David of Minot, North Dakota, Aaron Moises Hernandez of Fairview, Oklahoma; Caleb Jospeh Hein of Claremore, Oklahoma; Andrew Landreth Hein and Isaac Jonathan Hein both of Catoosa, Oklahoma and Nathaniel Ray Hein of Edmond, Oklahoma; and two great-grandchildren Desirae Eloise Ross and Marcus Desmond Ross of Enid, Oklahoma.
His parents, his sister Willomina Seltenreich, and one unborn child preceded him in death.
Memorials may be made through Fairview Funeral Home, Inc. to Isabella Church of the Nazarene.
Condolences may be made online at www.fairviewfuneralhomeinc.com .
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