Esther M. (Meinking) Folkerts, 89, of West Salem and formerly Bangor, died on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at the Mulder health Care Center in West Salem, WI.

Esther, the youngest of nine children, was born on August 8, 1926 in Adams Valley in rural Bangor to Richard F. and Martha (Streeck) Meinking. She was baptized on September 5, 1926 and confirmed on March 17,1940 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bangor by Pastor Carl W. Siegler. Esther farmed with her brothers and sisters on the family farm in Adams Valley until the farm was sold in 1979. Esther, now in her fifties, fell in love with a gentleman from Nebraska. On June 24th 1979 she and Wessel W. Folkerts were married at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Bangor by Pastor R. A. Siegler. The couple moved to Nebraska. They first lived in Carleton until moving to Davenport in the spring of 1980. In 1987 they moved to Alexandria where Esther worked at the local grocery store. They both had a strong faith in their Lord Jesus and believed that “with God all things are possible.” She remained in Nebraska for several years after Wessel’s death in October of 1998. She then moved back to Wisconsin to care for her aging brothers living in Onalaska. In 2012 she moved to Salem Terrace in West Salem.

Whether it was working on the farm, babysitting, taking care of her sister and brothers, helping out a neighbor or getting the recorded church service ready Sunday mornings at Salem Terrace, Esther was always ready to help. She was a sweet, kind and loving wife, sister, stepmother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt and friend.

Esther is survived by her stepchildren, Robert (Debra) Folkerts, Mark Folkerts, Carl (Deanna) Folkerts, Cindy (Mike) Blum and Lee (Rebecca) Folkerts; her grandchildren, Kimberly (Clint) Havel, Jessica (Aaron) Oltmans, Amy(Jeremy) Smith, Kyle (Tara) Carrigan, Brett (Emalee) Carrigan, Kelsi (Cody) Lingle, Courtney (Austin) Gocke, Cassandra Folkerts, Carl Folkerts, and Shelby Gundy; nine great-grandchildren; her sister-in-laws, Ina (Raymond) Luebbe and Helen Folkerts; several cousins, nieces and nephews, longtime friends and neighbors both in Wisconsin and Nebraska, and the special friends she had made in the last three years at Salem Terrace.

Esther was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Wessel; her siblings, Walter (Betty), Edith, Harold, Wilbert, Ione, Herbert, Donald(Coena) Meinking and Elvira (Jack) Horstman; her brother-in-law, Clarence Folkerts; a step son-in-law, Kevin Gundy and an infant great grandson.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00am on Monday, August 17, 2015 at St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church in Onalaska. The Rev. William Bader will officiate. Burial will be in the Carleton Cemetery in Carleton, Nebraska. Friends may call at the church on Monday from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service.

Her family would like to thank Gundersen Hospice and Mulder Health Care for the care that was given Esther during her last days.

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