Esther Marion Theonorah Wilson

ESTHER MARION THEONORAH WILSON
Esther Marion Theonorah Wilson was born February 4, 1922 to Mathilda (Grovdahl) and Egbert Wilson on their farm in Vernon Township, just north of Oslo. She passed away May 31, 2017, at Fieldcrest Nursing Home where she had resided for the past two years. Esther was the tenth of twelve children. She was baptized and confirmed at West St. Olaf Lutheran Church in rural Hayfield and where she remained a lifelong member. She graduated from Gilderhus District #59 School. After school she worked for a couple different families helping with their children. Later she returned home to help around the farm and to take care of her parents along with her brother, Richard. From the age of 9 ½ months she raised her niece Linda. While doing that she raised chickens and used the egg money to support herself and Linda and to purchase the medications that her mother needed. In her late 30s she learned how to drive so that she could get a job in town. Her first job was at the bakery in Kasson which required her to get up at 4:00 A.M. Later she worked at Erickson Hardware. When Fieldcrest Nursing Home opened in Hayfield, she applied for the position of cook and was the first person hired. She worked there until she retired. After retiring she continued to volunteer for the Auxiliary at the Fieldcrest Nursing Home. When her brother became sick, she helped taking care of him until he entered Fieldcrest Nursing Home. She visited him every day except when the weather did not allow her to get there until he passed away. About ten years ago, she sold the farm and moved to Crest Villa Apartments, where she lived until her health forced her to move into the nursing home. Esther was a world traveler and loved to travel. Her first trip with her niece, Linda was to the Scandinavian countries where she visited distance relatives in Skien, Norway and saw where her great grandparents had lived. She also visited Japan,   France, Germany and Calgary, Canada. In the United States she visited the Black Hills, Yellowstone National Park, Mackinaw (Michigan), Florida and many places in California. Survivors include one sister Eunice Gloria Irene Wilson Dell of South Haven, MN; a niece Linda Wilson of Monterey Park, CA, which she raised, and many nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews living in Minnesota, Oregon, California, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She was preceded in death by five sisters – Opal Wilson Hegna Schroeder McGovern, Gina Kristine Wilson (stillborn), Georgiana Mabel Eldora Wilson Beck Sigurdson, Luella Viola May Wilson Casey and Bernice Henretta Lorraine Reed Koontz, and five brothers – Carl Gilbert Wilson (stillborn), Elmer Maynard Wilson, Clarence George Edwin Wilson, Richard Howard Raymond Wilson and Harold Alfred Sherman Wilson. The family would like to thank Fieldcrest Nursing Home staff and St. Croix Hospice for their wonderful care of Esther. Memorial gifts can be made to West St. Olaf Lutheran Church or Evanger Lutheran Church or the Auxiliary at Fieldcrest Nursing Home.Friends may call from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Sunday, June 25, 2017, at Czaplewski Family Funeral Home, 501 2nd Street NW in Hayfield and one hour before the service at the church on Monday. The funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Monday, June 26, 2017, at West St. Olaf Lutheran Church, 70640 ~ 260th Avenue in rural Hayfield. Interment will be at Evanger Lutheran Church in rural Sargeant.
Blessed be her memory.