A Celebration of Life Service for 97-year-old Esther Kroeker of Mountain Lake, Minnesota, will be held on Friday, June 30, 2017, at 1 p.m. at Cornerstone Bible Church in Mountain Lake. The clergy will be Frank Fast. The church is located at 1019 Prince Street.
Interment will be in the Cornerstone Cemetery (formerly Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Cemetery), located on the west side of 570th Avenue, South of 360th Street and North of 10th Street/Cottonwood County Road 9/29, at 11 a.m.
Arrangements are with Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake Chapel.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.
Esther Kroeker passed away on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, at the Good Samaritan Society of Mountain Lake-The Village.
Esther (Friesen) Kroeker was born on March 8, 1920 in Jansen, Nebraska. Her parents were George A. and Elizabeth (Ratzlaff) Friesen. She was the fifth child, the couple’s second daughter. Her early schooling was in country schools and then Jansen Bible School. She went to Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas briefly and graduated from what was then called St. Paul Bible Institute (now Crown College) in St. Bonafacius, Minnesota.
Esther and Nick (Klaas) Kroeker had been acquaintances from childhood, but with an age difference, they didn’t become interested in each other until later. They were married in 1941 at the country Carson Church in rural Delft, Minnesota.
When Nick graduated from St. Paul Bible, their first daughter, Sharon, was born and they moved to a church in Stickney, South Dakota to gain experience in the ministry. They served the Stickney church from June 1943 until October 1946. During their stay in Stickney, son Donald was born. In 1945 they joined the Gospel Missionary Union (GMU) and left for Africa in October 1946.
Son, Donnie passed away during their first term and daughter Mary was born in what was then known as French West Africa (now Mali). They opened two new mission stations, one at Wasala in 1946 and one at Nonkon in 1953. In 1952, son Kenneth was born during their second term. A medical furlough brought them to the United States for an extended time until the death of Kenny.
Upon their return to Mali, the girls were sent off to Mamou, Guinea for school for most of each year. Furlough years were spent in Nebraska and Minnesota, with a lot of traveling to all the churches that supported them. Eventually the girls finished what schooling was available and returned to the United States to finish their education. Nick and Esther remained in Mali until they retired in 1984, when they bought a house in Mountain Lake and took up everyday life, which included gardening, enjoying the flowers planted by previous owners and quilting. They remained active in their local church as long as possible.
When Nick died in 2007, Esther remained in their home until she moved to the assisted living at Good Samaritan Society-The Lodge of Mountain Lake in 2014. She moved to The Village about two weeks before her death.
She is survived by daughter, Sharon “Shary” Hauber and husband Clint of Campbell, New York and by daughter Mary of Mountain Lake. Also surviving are grandchildren, Timothy, Esther and Bartholemew (Randi) Hauber and Wanda, Kenneth, Gwen (Gary) Martinez, Laurel (Nathan) Gustafson and great-grandchildren, Abigail, Elisha, Noel and Natalie Hauber, and Keegan and Keeley Classen.
Esther was preceded in death by her parents, all brothers and sister, her husband and two sons.