Sunday, January 10, 2021 Ella Amanda Kolbe passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve morning of the year 2020. She was born March 14,1927, in the small farming community of Hancock on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Finnish Immigrants Laina Rusi and Alex Harju. She had three siblings, brother Jerry and sisters Louella and Florence. She spent most of her formative years on a farm in Northern Wisconsin. There she learned the value of hard work and perseverance. She also developed a love for animals and other living things and the importance of clean air and water. She graduated from Wisconsin State University-Superior in 1949 and moved to New York City to live with her sister and modeled for company advertisements.