Obit: Kurasz, Esther C. (1915 - 2012)

Contact: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org    

Surnames: Kurasz, Fenske, Terasa, Lund, Johansen, Miller, Zickert

----Source: Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, WI) 03/21/2012

Kurasz, Esther C. (20 NOV 1915 - 18 MAR 2012)

Esther Kurasz, 96, of Neillsville died Sunday, March 18, 2012, at the Dove Health Care-West Nursing Home in Eau Claire.

Esther Clara Fenske, was born on Nov. 20, 1915, in the town of Honeycreek in Sauk County, which is near Leland, Wis., to August Albert and Bertha (nee Terasa) Fenske. She was baptized on Dec. 27, 1915, at the Evangelical Church in Black Hawk, Wis., by the Rev. Happe.

She and her family moved to Humbird, Wis., in July 1918 where they lived in the town of Cleveland, Jackson County. She attended the Oaks School and later the Humbird High School and graduated in 1934. She was confirmed in Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Alma Center, Wisconsin on June 8, 1930, with the Rev. Herbert Munderloch officiating.

Esther worked at various jobs in Sparta, Neillsville and Eau Claire, Wisconsin before marrying Joseph Stanley Kurasz on Oct. 24, 1936, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Neillsville, with the Rev. William Baumann officiating. 

They lived in Eau Claire until 1938 when they moved to Humbird and then to a farm south of Neillsville. 

Their oldest son, Ronald Lee, was born in Eau Claire on April 5, 1938. The next five children, Marjorie Lou, May 17, 1940, Stanley Ray, Feb. 4, 1943, Helen Ruth, April 5, 1945, Susan Kathleen, Jan. 24, 1947, and Thomas Stephen, April 10, 1955, were born while they lived on this farm. Ronald died on July 21, 1951.

They moved to a larger farm in 1956 north of Neillsville and Timothy Joe was born there on April 24, 1960. Esther retired from the Memorial Nursing Home in Neillsville in 1985 at the age of 70.

She is survived by her children, Marjorie Lund of Spokane, Wash., Stanley (Teriann) Kurasz of Morrison, Ill., Helen (Calvin) Johansen of Fergus Falls, Minn., Thomas Kurasz of Mondovi, Wis., and Timothy (Lisa) Kurasz of Loyal, Wis.; 24 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren, eight great-great-grandchildren; and a sister, Edna Miller of Tennessee.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph, in 1975; a son, Ronald, 1951; a daughter, Susan Zickert, 2002; her father, 1942; her mother, 1952; a grandson, Andrew Peter Zickert, 1971; a granddaughter, Charlotte Melissa Kurasz, 1978; two great-grandsons, Eric Lund, 1983, and Stephan Lund, 1993; two sisters and a brother.

A funeral service for Esther will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 24, 2012, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Neillsville. Pastor Timothy Biebert will officiate. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Interment will be in Neillsville City Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, 711 W. Fifth Str., Neillsville, WI 54456; or the Neillsville Public Library, 409 Hewett St., Neillsville, WI 54456.

Online condolences may be made at www.geschefh.com. 

The Gesche Funeral Home is assisting Esther's family with arrangements.