Funeral services for Esther Emelia Zacher, 80, of Elgin, ND will be Friday, June 8, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. MDT at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elgin. Rev. Jerome Lee will officiate and burial will follow at the Zion Cemetery in Elgin. Visitations will be from 1:00 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 7, at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Elgin and one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday afternoon. A Family Service will be held at 7:30 p.m. MDT on Thursday evening at the Funeral Home.


ESTHER EMEILIA WEGNER was born on August 30, 1926 to Samuel and Emelia (Kast) Wegner, on her family's farm south of New Leipzig, near the Coffin Buttes. She met Harry Zacher and they were married on October 13, 1946 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Leipzig. They lived for a brief time in Missoula, Montana before returning to North Dakota and the Zacher farm. Three children were born to this union.


In 1950, they moved to Elgin and purchased Herb's Bar that later became Harry's Bar. Over the next 52 years, they owned and operated several businesses on main street in Elgin, including Zacher's Café and Zacher's New and Used.


Esther was very active in her church and community. She was a member of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elgin, Dakota Lions, Bits and Pieces Quilt Club, was a member of the Elgin Celebration Committee, helped with the Senior Meals Program, Germans from Russia, served on the Election Board, Grant County Social Services Board, the Elgin Museum and the Red Hatters. She enjoyed quilting with her friends, but above all, her family was most important to her. Esther will always be remembered for her friendly, kind, loving, giving spirit and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.


Esther Zacher died peacefully on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 with her loving family at her side, at Med Center One in Bismarck, ND, after a brief battle with lung cancer.


Esther is survived by her husband, Harry, of Elgin; son, Clayton (Cyndy) Zacher, rural Elgin; daughter, Susie (Tom) Striegel, Rapid City, SD; six grandchildren, Michael (Nicole) Zacher, Sioux Falls, SD, Tristan (Michael) Rosson, Rapid City, SD, Andrea (David) Weikum, Bismarck, ND, T.J. Striegel, Rapid City, SD, Nicole Zacher and fiancé Jerry Smith, Omaha, NE and Erick Zacher, Grand Forks, ND; five great grandchildren, Dawson, Kyle, Connor, Lacy and Tyreese; sisters, Martha (Eugene) Myron, Milwaukie, OR and Gertie (Clarence) Werner, Elgin, ND. She was preceded in death by her parents, her son, Harry James "Butch", brother, Reuben, Otto, Walt, Herb and William Wegner and one sister, Lydia Hintz.


In lieu of flowers, a Memorial in her honor has been established to the Zion Evangelical Lutheran church in Elgin, ND.