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Photo of Esther (De Boer) Tjaden

Esther (De Boer) Tjaden

2/24/1907 - 1/15/2000


Obituary


Esther Tjaden, 92, of Britt, passed away Saturday, January 15, 2000 at Westview Care Center in Britt, Iowa.

Mrs. Tjaden was born February 24, 1907 at rural Wesley, Iowa, the daughter of Claus and Bendina (Peters) De Boer.  She was raised northeast of Wesley, and attended country school at Wesley Township #1, then graduated from Wesley High School in 1925.  She attended Iowa State Teacher's College at Cedar Falls, Iowa, during summer school, and then taught at a rural country school sic miles north of Wesley for several years.

She married Ralph U. Tjaden on February 24, 1930 at the rural Woden Christian Reformed Church.  The couple farmed north of Wesley, Iowa until 1961, when they moved into Britt, Iowa.  Ralph died November 14, 1985.

She was a member of the Britt Christian Reformed Church and of the Ladies Aid.  She was a church organist for a time.  During the 1960's she taught kindergarten for some years at the Kanawha Christian School.  She was a member of the Britt Women's Federated Club and Nota Bena Club.

Mrs. Tjaden was a dedicated mother and loved her Lord, family, and her church.  She enjoyed playing the organ, oil and tole painting, handwork, traveling, and they spent some winters in Arizona.

When they farmed, she was an active member of the Woden Christian Reformed Church where she belonged to the Ladies Aid, and also taught Sunday school.  She was a 4-H leader and a member of the Wesley Township Homemakers.

Mrs. Tjaden entered the Westview Care Center at Britt in April of 1992.

Survivors include five children and their spouses: Betty and Henry Rikkers of Sioux Center, Iowa, Kenneth and Marilyn Tjaden of Des Moines, Iowa, Mary and Roger Heikens of Milford, Iowa, Paul and Marilyn Tjaden of Wesley, Iowa, and Nancy and Paul Spitzer of Mesa, Arizona; 16 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; 4 great-great grandchildren; a sister Bernice and her husband Forrest Eckels of Britt, Iowa; a brother Clarence DeBoer and wife Inez of Clearwater, Florida; sister-in-law Mardi Boyer and her husband John of Thousand Oaks, California, and a sister-in-law Rosalie De Boer of Sun City, Arizona.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a sister Anne Waidelich and her husband Clarence, and three brothers, Theodore, in infancy, Herman and Maurice.