THOMSEN, Esther Irene

Esther Irene (Garrelts) Thomsen, 85 years of age from Minden, NE died October 9, 2010 at the Kearney County Health Services Long Term Care after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Services will be on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. at the Westminster United Presbyterian church in Minden with the Rev. Don Canady officiating. Burial will be in the Minden Cemetery. Visitation will be at the Layton-Craig Funeral Home in Minden on Tuesday from 3-5 and 7-8 p.m. Esther was born on June 9, 1925 to John C. and Rena (Schmidt) Garrelts on the family farm south of Wilcox. The family later moved to Hildreth where Esther graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1943. She attended Kearney State Teachers College that summer and began teaching at District 48 school southwest of Minden the fall of ‘43. She taught for 2 years at which time the school closed. On December 27, 1944 she married Leland Thomsen at her parents' home in Hildreth. To this union five children were born, Linda, Joyce, Carol, Ronald and Mary. Leland & Esther were married almost 54 years before his death on December 16, 1998. They lived on the farm southwest of Minden until moving into town in 1980. During the years that Leland did custom corn shelling, Esther packed lunches for the crew and had an amazing list of cookies to make to offer the men variety. Esther was a long time member of the Double L extension club and after moving to town enjoyed being part of a card club playing Som-R-Set. Esther was a member of the Westminster United Presbyterian Church and served as an Elder, a Sunday school teacher, youth club teacher, Circle leader and was a part of the Presbyterian Women's group. For many years she was the treasurer of the Kearney County Community action committee. She volunteered at both Bethany Home and Long Term Care, serving cookies or washing hair and also delivered Meals on Wheels for many years. Esther loved to garden and especially enjoyed her flowers and sharing them with others. Entering flowers in the Open class division at the county fair challenged her to find just the right bloom on entry morning. Her home was always open to friends and family and she served many meals to those who came her way. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She is survived by her children: Linda Thomsen of Lincoln, NE; Joyce Hopper of Nixa, MO; Carol Bill and her husband, Larry and Ronald Thomsen and his wife, Julia of Minden; and Mary Jordheim and her husband Steve of Minneapolis, MN, eleven grandchildren and seven great- grandchildren; her brother, Wayne Garrelts and his wife Charlotte of Kearney and several nieces and nephews. Memorials are suggested to the church, AseraCare Hospice or KCHS Long Term Care.