Esther Helen Harriman, 06 Nov 1928 - 21 Jun 2012

HARRIMAN, MCCLUNE, DOUGHERTY, OLIVER, SORDEN, THOMPSON

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 9/11/2012 at 16:22:19

Private graveside services for Esther H. Harriman, 83, were held at 2:30 p.m. Monday, June 18, in the North English Cemetery. She left us June 14, 2012, at the Great River Medical Center, Burlington, to celebrate her departure from this life’s trials with our Lord in Heaven. She now has the voice she so long awaited and will sing forever in heaven’s choir.

The Rev. Edwin Jordan officiated at the service.

A memorial fund has been established for the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.

Powell Funeral Home and Cremation Service, North English, was in charge of arrangements. Messages and tributes may be left at www.powellfuneralhomes.com.

Esther Helen Harriman was born Nov. 6, 1928, the daughter of Robert J. McClune and Mary Ellen Dougherty McClune at their country home in Poweshiek County.

She married Ernest William Harriman Aug. 30, 1948. She farmed with her husband most of her life and was recognized as an outstanding woman farmer in 1984 by a national magazine. She earned a high school diploma in 1991 and went on to fulfill a lifelong dream by graduating from Kirkwood Community College’s nursing program in 1993. She worked 10 years as an LPN and finally as director of nursing in area care centers before retiring at age 75. In 2004, she moved to Burlington to live with her daughter Linda.

Throughout her life, her passion was her family. She actively participated in the lives of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She demonstrated strength and commitment in the care of her husband during his lengthy illness and her diligent care of her mother and father during their nursing home stays.

She also lovingly tended her flowers, fed and watched birds and was a fervent lover of books, especially of historical content. Of the many examples Esther set, she will most be remembered by her family for her pursuit of knowledge, her love of nature and her faith in God.

Harriman is survived by two daughters and their husbands, Helen L. and Gene Oliver, Grinnell, and Linda L. and Randy Sorden, Burlington; one step-son and his wife, Bill and Sharon Harriman, Cedar Rapids; two sisters, Naomi Thompson, Mason City, and Dorothy McClune, Brooklyn; two brothers, Paul McClune, Gibson, and Lee McClune, Knoxville; nine grandchildren; five step-grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, two great-great-granddaughters and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; one son, Charles E.; twin granddaughters, Tammy and Tina Harriman, and one sister, Bernice McClune.

Published in the Williamsburg Journal Tribune, 21 Jun 2012, pg 11
Abbreviated notice Published June 16, 2012 in The Gazette