Esther Lostegaard

Esther Lostegaard, 92, Bismarck, died January 9, 2007, at Medcenter One Hospital. Services will be held at 1:00 pm Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck, with Rev. Steve Sathre officiating. Burial will be in Elm River Lutheran Cemetery, Galesburg. Visitation will be held from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm Thursday at Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck, and continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Esther Otelia Lostegaard was born June 24, 1914, at her parents' home at Ralph, SD, to Christian E. and Ingeborg Marie Groven Lostegaard. At the age of four she moved with her family to Galesburg, ND. She attended a rural school in Steele County and graduated from Galesburg High School in 1931 as salutatorian of her class. Esther attended Mayville Teachers College where she received her Standard Diploma and taught rural school in Nelson County. From 1939-1943 she taught fifth and sixth grade at Portland, ND, and taught sixth grade at Casselton for one year. In the fall of 1944, Esther moved to Bismarck where she taught fifth grade for fifteen years. After her move to Bismarck, she spent summers at Minnesota State University Moorhead where she graduated with honors in scholarship in 1952, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in upper elementary education. After attending summer school sessions at Missoula, MT, and at University of Minnesota where she began work on a library degree, Esther spent three summer sessions at the University of Denver Library School where in 1963 she received her Master of Arts Degree in Librarianship. Esther began her work as librarian at Hughes Junior High School in 1959 and retired in 1979. She enjoyed visiting with former students whenever and wherever she met them. Esther was active in Trinity Lutheran Church where she began regular attendance in 1944 and became a member just a few years later. She worked on the Trinity History Committee, the Library Committee which organized a professional library catalogued under the Dewey Decimal System, and wrote library reports for the Trinity Newsletter. She was active in Trinity Lutheran Church Women and Circle One. Esther was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society since 1954, Retired Teacher Association, Golden Kiwanis and Sons of Norway Sverdrup Lodge where she was secretary for five years. She traveled extensively throughout the United States, and on cruise ships, the Nieuw Amsterdam and the S.S. Norway to Alaska and the Bahamas. She traveled on tours to Norway in 1980 and 1985 where she visited several second-cousins in the Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal areas. Esther also traveled on a tour through the four Scandinavian countries. Her hobbies were reading, hardanger, sewing, doing volunteer work for Medcenter One Health Systems, and square dancing. She loved spending time with her four sisters and their families, and with her cousins, nieces and nephews and their families. Esther is survived by her thirteen nieces and nephews and their spouses, Eileen and Michael Seibold of Wahpeton, ND, Duane and Susan Haakenson of Idaho, Karen and James Borseth of Williston, ND, Bernell and Marion Rieck and Larry and Janice Rieck, all of Durbin, ND, Muriel and Duane Aljoe of Atwater, MN, Janice and James Buckner and Dennis and Betty Haakenson, all of Fargo, ND, Galen and Raydeen Thompson of Grand Forks, ND, Yvonne and Larry Lee, Jon Hoberg, and Mary and Steven Keller, all of Washington and Allen and Mary Hoberg of Bismarck, ND; and many great and great-great nieces and nephews. Esther was preceded in death by her parents; her baby brother, Joel Clarence Lostegaard; and her four sisters, Melida, Blanche, Julia and Iola.

Esther Lostegaard

June 24, 1914 - January 9, 2007