- Esther Hansen
A funeral service for Esther Hansen, 99, will be held at 2:00 P.M., Saturday, July 26,
2008 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Westby. Pastor David Curtright will officiate and
burial will take place at Lone Tree Cemetery near Westby, Montana.
Esther was born February 12, 1909 in Buchanan, Saskatchewan, Canada a daughter of
Gustav and Anna (Fredericksen) Vilhelmsen. When she was a small child, her entire
family moved back to Norway, where her parents had both been born. She and her
brothers and sisters were orphaned in Norway and lived in various foster homes.
When Esther was a teenager, she and her brother Ludvig returned to the United States
coming through Ellis Island and settling in Comertown with an aunt and uncle, Carl and
Louisa Johnson.
She worked as a hired girl for a number of people in the Comertown and Westby
communities for several years. In 1926 she married Henry Edlund in Crosby, North
Dakota and then moved to the Fergus Falls, Minnesota area where they lived and had
five children. They were divorced in the early 40s.
Esther married Eugene Hansen of Westby in 1944 and they moved to his farm where they lived until 1959, when they moved to
Plentywood. Esther worked as a cook at Sheridan Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home for twenty-two years and also worked as
a Nurses Assistant. Eugene died in 1969 and Esther continued to work until 1983 when she retired.
Esther and her companion Clifford Jerde moved to Billings in 1984 and made their home there until they returned to Plentywood
when Clifford entered Sheridan Memorial Nursing Home. Clifford died in 2002 and Esther maintained her apartment in Plentywood
until she broke a hip. She lived in LaCasa for four years and then moved to Sheridan Memorial Nursing Home in March of 2008.
Esther enjoyed playing cards, dancing and listening to music. Her hobbies were ceramics, knitting, crocheting and she was a very
good cook. She was a very generous person, but found it difficult to receive gifts of any kind. She was an excellent farm wife and
regarded the years on the farm with Gene as the best years of her life.
She was a member of Our Saviors Lutheran Church in rural Westby and served with the Women's Missionary Federation. She
loved children, especially her grandchildren and always had time for them. She also loved animals, whether farm animals or her
poodle.
Esther is survived by her children: Ione Mullins of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Dale Edlund and his wife Ella of Billings, Montana and Mary
Lou Heppner and her husband Lawrence of Westby, Montana. Also surviving is a sister-in-law Oddlaug Williams of Plentywood
and a daughter-in-law Loralee Edlund in Battle Lake, Minnesota. She is also survived by sixteen grandchildren, several great-
grandchildren, and several nieces . She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Eugene, companion Clifford Jerde, two
sons, LeRoy and Harry, grandson, Bruce and numerous brothers and sisters.
Fulkerson Funeral Home of Plentywood is in charge of arrangements.
| . . . . in Memory of . . . . |
| 1909 - 2008 |
Remembering Esther