Canterbury, Jean (1926-2014)
CANTERBURY, ESPELAND, PEDERSON, HATCH, MOKLESTAD, SPENCER, LEGRIED, TINDALL, FISCHBACH
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 12/19/2014 at 16:21:58
Jean Canterbury
August 17, 1926 - December 6, 2014Surrounded by her family, Jean Canterbury, 88, of Rake, died on Saturday, December 6, 2014, at her home.
Jean Ann Canterbury was born to Selmer and Julia Espeland on August 17, 1926, at Rake, Iowa. She lost her mother when she was six, and her father married Josie, her stepmother. Confirmed at Liberty Lutheran Church, she graduated from Rake High School in 1944. After going to a teachers college for a summer, she taught country school east of Rake. She enjoyed teaching but moved on to other jobs in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and Washington, DC, where she was working when World War II ended. While witnessing the celebrating in the streets, she got lost!
Next, Jean went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she met a soldier named Mack Canterbury. They married on November 15, 1947. While still living in Wyoming, they had two children, John Mack and Julia Lou. While Mack was serving the country, they lived in many places including in New York State. After Mack was transferred to France, Jean, John, and Julia lived in a trailer at the family farm north of Rake. After Mack returned, the family moved to New Mexico. When he received his orders to go to France again, his family went with him. In France, a son, Eric D, was born. During the three and a half years they were in Europe, Mack was stationed at Laon, France, as well as at Ramstein and Ulm, Germany. Every chance they got, they took road trips seeing Paris and the Eifel tower, old castles, beautiful palaces, cathedrals, and the 1956 Brussels World’s Fair. Back in the USA, they were sent to Rapid City, South Dakota, where their son David was born.
When Mack was ready to retire from the Air Force, Jean’s Dad was, also, retiring from farming, so they moved to the family farm in 1961. Jean loved life as a busy farm wife even doing field work until her boys were old enough to take over. They joined Zion Lutheran Church where she became very active. A fifty year member of Eastern Star and a fifty-three year member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Jean served as a 4-H leader as well in the 1960s. Moreover, she and Mack were among the couples to start the Rake Rocking R’s square dance club. When Mack organized reunions for the various military squadrons he had served with, Jean was his “secretary.” She loved visiting with people wherever she went. Jean, also, loved sewing, making clothes, doing embroidery, crocheting, and especially quilting. She took a rosemaling class and made some beautiful pieces. Most of all, however, she loved her family and took care of her grandchildren every chance she got.
Jean is survived by a sister, Ruth Pederson; her brother, Stanley (Susan) Espeland; her daughter, Julia (Terry) Hatch; her sons, Eric (Laura) and David Canterbury; her grandchildren, Anna Moklestad, Andrea (Jason) Spencer, Crystal Legried, and Alison Tindall; and her great grandchildren, Haley, Jason, Kaitlyn, and Thomas Moklestad; Shea Spencer; and Charlie Rose Tindall; as well as by her nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Mack Canterbury (2004), her mother, Julia Espeland; her father, Selmer Espeland; her stepmother, Josie Espeland; her sister, Janice Fischbach; her brother, Lynn Espeland; her brother-in-law, Ray Pederson; her son, John Canterbury; her granddaughter, Angela Canterbury; and her great grandchildren, Millie, Loraine, and Asa Spencer.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, at Zion Lutheran Church in Rake with Pastor Terry Mahnke officiating. Burial will be at West Cemetery in Rake. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Thursday, at the Winter Funeral Home and also one hour before the service at the church.
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