Hester Jennings

HESTER ANN JENNINGS was born to Hessel and Charlotte (VandenBerg) Houtman on September 29, 1941 in Volga, South Dakota. She was raised on the family farm northwest of Bruce, South Dakota (currently known as the Oakwood State Park). In 1946, she moved with her parents to Riverdale Farm which was located between Brookings and Volga, South Dakota. She began her education at a country school and then went to Volga Christian School from third grade through the eighth grade. She continued her education at Volga High School, graduating in 1959. During high school, she worked part-time as a nurse’s aide at the hospital in Volga and as a clerk at the Volga grocery store. On August 19, 1959, she was united in marriage to Jim Jennings at First Christian Church in Volga. Following their marriage, they moved to Brookings, South Dakota where she worked as a bookkeeper at the Woolworth Store. In 1963, they moved to Pipestone where she worked as a clerk at J.C. Penney’s and at the newspaper. Hester became employed full-time at the Pipestone County Medical Center in 1975 as an x-ray technician in the Radiology Department. She continued working at the hospital until her retirement in 1999. She entered the Pipestone County Hospice House on October 10, 2012 and died there on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at the age of 71 years, one month and 22 days.

Hester was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church where she taught Sunday School and served in the LWML. She liked to quilt with the ladies at church, and she served on the funeral committee and helped prepare the lunches for the families. She enjoyed working with her flowers, fishing, crocheting and knitting. She loved spending time with her family, attending the yearly family reunions and their annual vacation up north. She especially enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and playing games with them.

She is lovingly remembered by her husband of 53 years, Jim Jennings of Pipestone, Minnesota; her children, Neal Jennings and his wife Linda of Ihlen, Minnesota, Ruth Evans and her husband Jerry of Pipestone, Minnesota, Laura Weatherly and her husband Monte of Arlington, South Dakota, and Carol Stepp and her husband Dan of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; her grandchildren, Aaron Kasprowicz, Megan and Becky Jennings, Heidi, Jerrod and Heather Evans, and Eric and Traci Weatherly; one great granddaughter, Madison Klosterman; one sister, Dorothy Weisser and her husband Elmer “Bud” of Brookings, South Dakota; two brothers, Charles Houtman and his wife Karen of Canby, Minnesota, and Wilbur Houtman and his wife Deloris of Mesa, Arizona; and one sister-in-law, Marlys Houtman of Brookings, South Dakota. She was preceded in death by her parents; one brother, Gerald Houtman; two sisters, Alice Doop and Lorrayne Lengkeek; and one infant brother, David Leroy Houtman.