DIRKS, Joan (Essman) 1937-2003

DIRKS, ESSMAN, WESSELS, BOE, KRULL

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner (email)
Date: 1/4/2004 at 15:44:55

Joan "Joni" Dirks, 66, of Ellsworth, Minn., died Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003, at her home following an extended illness.

Services were Thursday at Zion Presbyterian Church, Ellsworth, with interment in Grand Prairie Cemetery.

Joan Essman was born Nov. 23, 1937, near Ellsworth, the daughter of William and Effie (Wessels) Essman. She grew up in the Ellsworth area and graduated from Ellsworth High School.

On Nov. 6, 1955, she married Alfred Dirks in Ellsworth. They farmed near Rock Rapids until moving to an acreage near Ellsworth in 1978.

They operated Dirks Milk Hauling. In 1987, she began working as a cook at Ellsworth Bar and later Parkview Manor. For the past two years, she worked at Ellsworth Food Center.

At Zion Presbyterian Church, she served as a Sunday School teacher and was a deacon.

Survivors include three sons, Jeff of Wheatland, Wyo., and Mark and Scott, both of Ellsworth; two daughters, Mrs. Jeff (Debbie) Boe of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Mrs. Kevin (LeAnn) Krull of Rock Rapids; nine grandchildren and two brothers, Melvin of Luverne, Minn., and Donell of Adrian, Minn.

She was preceded in death by her parents.