Click Here to View the Funeral for Esther

Esther Peterson, age 102, of Bismarck, ND, passed away on Monday, January 8, 2024 at her home in Bismarck, ND.

Funeral services for Esther will be held at 11:00 a.m. MT on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at the New Hope Worship Center in Lemmon, SD.  Pastor Mike Parker will officiate with burial to follow in the Greenhill Cemetery.

Visitation for Esther will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. followed by a gathering of friends and family at 7:30 p.m. all on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon, SD.

Esther Virginia Peterson was born on the Peterson farm on April 11, 1921 to Carl J. and Augusta Marie Peterson, who immigrated from Sweden in the 1890's and met in Sioux Falls, SD, then married a few years later in Salem, SD. Later they homesteaded in Selma, ND area and finally settled in Menz Township, Sioux County, ND, about 15 miles from Lemmon, SD. Esther was the 10th child of 13 in all. She went to country school about 1 ½ miles from their home through 8th grade.

During WWII, Esther and an older sister, Helga, lived in Southern California. They worked in the ship yards doing spot welding. When she returned to South Dakota, she was trained to be a beautician and practiced that skill for a few years. Another venture was painting. Along with 2 other friends, they did a lot of painting around Lemmon area, including the gymnasium at the high school.

Many of her family and friends have benefited from her generous spirit. She would buy things at estate sales . . . or select personal things that had sentimental value to her and she knew would be treasured by whomever she gave them too. When they would come and visit, they never left without some momento or a basket full of goodies to eat on the road, cinnamon rolls or her special roast beef sandwiches.

Esther was a woman of prayer and witnessed many miracles during her lifetime. In fact, she was critically ill with strep throat when she was younger. The family feared she might not make it, but they prayed and victory was celebrated as she got better almost immediately. She witnessed her older sisters being healed of tuberculosis and infections – for which they had no medicine – except their faith in the Great Healer. She remembers the family always reading the Bible and having prayer after breakfast and after supper. She loved teaching children in Sunday School and helping with various needs at her church.

Her younger sister, Dorothea, or "Dottie", was asked in an interview about the CJ Peterson family, what were Esther's special gifts? "Esther is an exceptionally good manager. If anything needs to be done, she knows how it should be done. She has exceptional strength and has been an outstanding caregiver for many members of the family . . . something that was so needed." One family member she cared for, among many, was her Uncle Carl. He lived to be almost 105 years old.

Esther was a dreamer. Once, in the mid-1960's when she was washing dishes after a Sunday meal in their home in Lemmon, SD, she shared with a family member how much she would like to add on to the house, maybe make it a Bed and Breakfast (before BnB's were popular.) She went into great detail having thought about it a lot. Time would mean, however, that her dreams had to be put aside as she cared for her parents in their later years and many others after that.

Esther loved gardening and growing flowers. She grew and nurtured African Violet plants for decades and has shared many with friends and family over the years.

If Esther had a fault, it was that she might fall asleep at the drop of a hat, as they say. She was diagnosed with narcolepsy, something she lived with all her life. "I can be talking and all at once I just go to sleep. I've been so embarrassed sometimes."

In her later years, after her parents had gone to heaven, she moved to Bismarck, ND to help care for her older sister, Helga until she passed away. She also cared for her sister, Hilder and her husband, Mac, until they passed away. Eventually, she and Dottie moved into Edgewood Village in Bismarck. There she enjoyed going to church at the facility, not having to go out in North Dakota's cold winters. She cared for Dottie until she passed away in 2017. Since then, she has enjoyed occasional trips back to Lemmon with her niece, Lavonne Fannik. Lavonne has been helping Esther ever since, taking her shopping, to doctor appointments or to get her hairdone, bringing her supplies, etc.

Esther was a servant of God, dedicated to helping others in need. It might mean taking care of children while a parent was in the hospital or in bed ill or just away, tending the needs of her parents, her brothers and sisters. Many might call her the Peterson's Mother Teresa.

The key words here about Esther is, "She cared for . . ." whomever needed her at the time. When asked how she learned to be so generous with her time, skills, thoughtfulness, faith . . . Esther said she was taught to do everything to the glory of God. She remembered a slogan on the wall of the basement of the old church in Lemmon that said, "Don't do anything you wouldn't want to be doing if Jesus came."

Her advice to family and friends was, "Seek first the kingdom of God. Put God first." She did. "You fought a good fight, kept the course. You will be missed, Well done, Esther."