Esther Klassen

Esther (Eytzen) Klassen, the youngest of 13 children born to Jacob J and Maria (Wiebe) Eytzen was born on January 24, 1915 on the family farm near Bingham Lake, MN. She began her education at a country school near her home, and after the family moved to Mountain Lake, MN she attended the Christian Day School and Mountain Lake Public School. At the age of 12 she made a personal decision to follow Christ, and on August 17, 1930 she was baptized and became a member of the Mountain Lake Mennonite Brethren Church (now Community Bible Church of Mountain Lake). On May 18, 1938 she married William Klassen. They made their home in Mountain Lake until moving to Delft, MN in 1952, and in 1965 they returned to Mountain Lake. Throughout the years she assisted her husband in the family business as a bookkeeper. Esther was a wife, a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, quilting and other crafts. Esther loved God and wanted her life to be a service to others. Through the years she was involved in many church and community activities, including sewing circle, prayer groups, bible studies, AWANA, Heritage Village, and the Gideons. Esther died on Sunday afternoon, August 30, 2009 at the Good Samaritan Village in Mountain Lake. Esther is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, William Klassen; a son in infancy, Allen Klassen; a granddaughter, Jennifer Patrick; a son-in-law, Marlyn Friesen; 9 sisters, Marie Balzer Goossen, Katherine Tina Eytzen, Sara Eytzen, Susanne Eytzen, Anna Wiens, Susie Eytzen, Martha Dick Suderman, Justina Eytzen and Helen Ratzloff; and 3 brothers, John, Jacob and Abraham Eytzen. She is survived by 4 children; Evangeline (Ronald) Patrick of Mountain Lake, Mary (Delbert) Friesen Seitz of Lancaster, PA, Paul (Gladys) Klassen of Edmond, OK, and Sharon (Berry) Friesen of Lancaster, PA; 9 grandchildren; 20 great grandchildren; many other relatives and friends.