Esther Lyman, age 95 of Lemmon, passed away on Sunday, January 19, 2014 at Five Counties Nursing Home in Lemmon.

The Funeral Service for Esther will be held at 2:00pm MT Saturday, February 1, 2014 at Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Lemmon. Following a time of fellowship and luncheon, burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery in Lemmon.

Visitation will on Friday, January 31, 2014, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and from 12:00 noon until the start of the service at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at the Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Esther Florence (Minges) Lyman was born October 13, 1918, on the homestead in Corson County, the only child to George Minges and Tressa (Priebe) Minges. Esther went to the grade school in the badlands of Perkins County closest to the Box K ranch. She attended Lemmon High School, living with her Grandma and Grandpa Priebe, graduating with the class of 1936. Following high school she went to St. Paul MN and received her nurses training at Mounds Park Hospital. She was part of the group to first experiment with penicillin and see its amazing results.

In March of 1941 Esther married James M. Lyman, oldest son of the Lyman family and closest neighbor and friend. Jim was a WWII soldier and the young couple went to Tyler Texas where he was stationed. Esther returned to St. Paul in July of 1944 when Jim was deployed to Europe and was there when she heard of his death in March of 1945. She stayed in the Twin Cities and went ahead to get a degree in Public Health from the University of Minnesota.

Thomas W. Lyman, 2nd son of the Lyman family came courting and they were married in October of 1948. The newlyweds built a home on the Lyman Place and this is where they raised their 4 children. Esther and Tom were together for more than 50 years, and 40 of them were on the Rippling Water Ranch. During those years she experienced floods, fires, blizzards, rattle snakes and drought. In the late 50's Bernie and Katie Kling came to work on the ranch, their relationship became permanent and they became like family.

Esther and Tom were founding members of the Hope Presbyterian Church and active in its mission locally and globally. Esther drew much support being part of UPW, United Presbyterian Women. Being an only child Esther considered her sister-in-law Sara Lyman Beran as a sister. The Lyman visits to MN in the winter and the Beran visit to the ranch in the summer were an annual highlight. On years when cattle prices were good Esther and Tom got the chance to visit their children in various places around the country and world. Esther kept pictures and souvenirs from each trip and enjoyed sharing them.

Esther's children were a large part of her reason for living. Long after dementia had taken over her mind and she could not remember events, dates or faces, when she was asked how many children she had Esther would hold up four fingers and rattle off ""Helen, George, Addie and Susan.""

In 1994 Tom and Esther moved off the ranch to Canistota, SD where Addie and her husband John Holm lived. When Tom died in 2002 Esther was unable to live independently and moved to Custer to live with Addie and John. Words can hardly describe all the love and care Addie and John gave to Esther during the 10 years she lived in Custer and her dementia grew progressively worse.

In May of 2012 Esther moved to Five Counties Nursing Home in Lemmon SD. It was like coming home to her. Although her thinking was foggy she could sometimes ""rise to the occasion"" when friends and neighbors would visit. She died peacefully after supper on Sunday night January 19, 2014 in the care of wonderful staff.

Esther is survived by her daughter Helen Williams and grandson Jason Williams of Toronto Canada, her son, George Lyman and his wife Sharon of Grand Prairie, TX and grandsons John and Peter Lyman of San Marcos, TX, her daughter Addie Holm of Custer, SD, her daughter Susan Marley and husband Darrell of Haverhill, MA, her grandson Leo Marley of Ludlow, VT and her granddaughter Sara Marley Julitz and her husband John, and great-grandson Jack Julitz of Kyle, TX.

She was preceded in death by her husband James Lyman, her parents, her son-in-law, Brian Williams, her husband Thomas Lyman, her sister-in-law, Sara Beran and son-in-law, John Holm.