Esther Aipperspach Rattei

Esther Aipperspach-Rattei, 89, of St. Benedicts Health Center, Dickinson, went home to be with Jesus on April 13, 2013, at Kindred Hospital, Mandan. Services will be held at 1:00 pm Thursday, April 18, at Faith Lutheran Church, Bismarck, with Rev. Wes Aardahl officiating. Burial will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Bismarck. Visitation will be held from 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm Wednesday, April 17, at Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck, and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Esther Unruh was born March 4, 1924, at Wishek, ND, to Christian and Christina Schilling Unruh. She attended country school until 8th grade. On October 24, 1943, Esther was united in marriage to Daniel Aipperspach at Wishek where they lived for a time. They moved to the Patterson Ranch near Sterling and finally settled in Bismarck where they raised four children. Esther spent 45 years working within the medical community: three years as a nurses' aide at the Baptist Home followed by 18 years as an aide at the Bismarck Hospital previously Medcenter One and now Sanford Health. Subsequently, she served as housemother at the Medcenter One School of Nursing for three years followed by 24 years as a faithful and beloved volunteer at the hospital. She always had a smile and words of encouragement for everyone who came through the doors. Following a blessed marriage of more than 40 years and raising four wonderful children, Daniel died in September 1984. After 18 years of being alone, Esther reconnected with her first love, Jacob Rattei, for the first time in over 60 years. They were married March 15, 2003, in Bismarck, and had five wonderful years together in Ashley until Jacob's death in February 2008. Esther moved to Dickinson to be near family. Due to declining health, she entered St. Benedicts Health Center in March 2010, where she was greatly loved and will be missed by all. Esther is survived by one son, Jim Rosie Aipperspach, Des Moines, IA; two daughters, Wanda Heidrich, Strasburg, and Lorie Mike Adolf, Dickinson; one son-in-law, Robert Schlenvogt, New England; five brothers, Robert Esther, Fargo, William Donna, Las Vegas, NV, Harvey, Bellingham, WA, DuWayne Nora, Bismarck, and Ronald Nancy, Harrisburg, PA; four sisters, Edna Feagan, Sonoma, CA, Ida Wanner, Edgemont, SD, Katherine Richard Melarvie, Mankota, MN, and Barbara Chris Nolan, Gurnee, IL; and her 11 grandchildren and 22 great-granchildren. She was a beloved aunt to numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Daniel and Jacob; daughter, Norma Schlenvogt; son-in-law, Arnold Heidrich; four brothers, Arthur, Eugene, Grant, and Daniel; two brothers-in-law, John Feagan and Ferdinand Wanner; and four sisters-in-law, Alvina, Marian, Joyce and Florence. The family prefers memorials to St. Benedicts Health Center of Dickinson.

Esther Aipperspach Rattei

March 4, 1924 - April 13, 2013