Oetken, Esther 1913-2003

OETKEN, UTESCH, SPEANES, JENSEN

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/7/2007 at 17:19:59

LE MARS, Iowa -- Esther Oetken, 90, of Le Mars died Wednesday, July 9, 2003, at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars.

Services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church in rural Merrill, Iowa, with the Rev. Dr. Klaus Raab officiating. Burial will be in Resthaven Memory Gardens Cemetery, Le Mars. Visitation will be after 2 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at Carlsen Funeral Home in Le Mars.

Esther M. Utesch was born March 30, 1913, on the family farm in Washington Township, Plymouth County, Iowa, to Bert and Lena (Speanes) Utesch. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church.

She was united in marriage to Raymond Jensen on Feb. 27, 1935, at St. Paul Lutheran Church. Raymond passed away March 17, 1970. In May 1976, she married Harry Oetken. Harry passed away in August 1979. She made her home at the Plymouth Manor Care Center in December 2002.

She was a lifelong member of St. Paul Lutheran Church and had been very active in the ladies organizations. She loved cooking, sewing, quilting, gardening and she enjoyed her garden club.

Survivors include a daughter and her husband, Sharon and Kenneth Junck of Hinton, Iowa; a son and his wife, Randall and Jeanette Jensen of Merrill, Iowa; six grandchildren, Michele Betsworth, Leisa Burke, Sherry Winters, Rick Jensen, Ann Crosgrove and Jaclynn Jensen; four great-grandchildren, Mitchell Betsworth, Rileigh Burke, Reese Burke and Gage Crosgrove; a stepdaughter and her husband, Carla and Ken Less of Akron, Iowa; a stepson and his wife, Loren and Karen Oetken of Akron, Iowa; a sister, Vera Dotson of Germantown, Ohio; two sisters-in-law, Edna Jensen of Le Mars and Marion Utesch of Oyens, Iowa; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; four brothers, Fred, Walt, Earl and Harold "Doc" Utesch; and three sisters, Caroline Aldridge, Evalyn Wilkens and Iva Mae Utesch in infancy.

Pallbearers will be Troy Betsworth, Rick Jensen, Monty Burke, Alex Crosgrove, Devon Winters and Dan Utesch. Honorary pallbearers will be Michele Betsworth, Leisa Burke, Sherry Winters, Ann Crosgrove and Jaclynn Jensen.

~source: The Sioux City Journal

~Transcriber's Note: The stone has the name Jensen, but she remarried after her first husband (Raymond Jensen) died.

Tombstone Photo
 

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