Lingren, Esther R. (1910-2011)

LINGREN, RONKEN, PEARSON, BARNOSKI

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 5/23/2012 at 14:57:26

Esther Viola (Ronken) Lingren
January 4, 1910 - February 8, 2011

Esther Viola (Ronken) Lingren, 101, of Longwood at Oakmont, formerly of Churchill, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully Tuesday, February 8, 2011. She was born on January 4, 1910, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Otis Edward Ronken, of Spring Valley, Minnesota, and Christine (Pearson) Ronken, of Canon Falls, Minnesota.

Esther attended elementary school in Minneapolis and Goodridge, Minnesota, and graduated from Goodridge High School in 1926. In 1928, she received an Associate's Degree at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. Esther, then, attended the Universities of Iowa and Minnesota during her summer sessions. In 1931, she married the late Dr. Vernon C. Lingren, a Forest City native she had met while attending Waldorf College.

Mrs. Lingren taught seventh and eighth grades for three years in Ringsted, Iowa, before she and Dr. Lingren moved to Pittsburgh in 1946. Vernon had been appointed a professor in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Subsequently, Esther received her Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1960. She taught for seventeen years in the Churchill Area Schools (now Woodland Hills) beginning as a first grade teacher, and then she taught kindergarten. She truly loved her work, and, to this day, many of her former students remember her well.

Esther was a member of Pi Lambda Theta at the University of Pittsburgh, Delta Kappa Gamma/Alpha Phi Chapter of Alpha Alpha State and PEO Chapter BD. She had been a true and faithful member of the South Avenue Methodist Church in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, since 1947. She was also a member of the Churchill Garden Club. Loving and kind to all she met, she touched the lives of so many people. She will be greatly missed by family and friends alike.

Esther is survived by her son, Clark E. Lingren, and his wife, Arlene (Tobias) Lingren, of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania; two grandchildren, Mrs. John (Kimberly) Barnoski and Erik W. Lingren; and three great-granddaughters, Kayla M. Barnoski, Alexandria E. Barnoski, and Jordyn A. Barnoski, of the Shaler Township, Allegany County, Pennsylvania, area.

Esther was preceded in death by her husband of fifty-four years, Dr. Vernon C. Lingren; and her brother, Oscar E. Ronken.

There will be no calling hours. Family and friends will gather to celebrate Esther's life at a memorial service to be held at Longwood at Oakmont. Arrangements are entrusted to the English Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Inc. Inurnment next to her husband at the First Baptist Church Cemetery, Forest City, Iowa.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to P.E.O. c/o Margaret Menges, 56 Wayside Lane, Verona, PA 15147, Family Hospice, 1423 Liverpool St., Pittsburgh, PA 15233, or the charity of one’s choice.

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