Esther J. Burmeister, age 101 of Harmony, Minn., died, Sunday, April 16, 2017, at her home in Harmony. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Friday, April 21, at the Greenfield Lutheran Church in Harmony, with burial following in Greenfield Cemetery. Friends may call on Friday from 1 p.m. until time of services at the church. The Lindstrom Funeral Home is assisting the family.
Esther (Brenna) Burmeister was born at Silver Lake near Northwood, Iowa, on June 2, 1915 to Rev. and Mrs. O. C. Brenna. She was baptized by her father in the Silver Lake church on June 20, 1915. At three years of age she moved with her family to Adams, Minn., where she attended school through the seventh grade. In 1927 the family moved to Harmony, Minn., and she graduated from Harmony High School in 1933. She was confirmed by her father in Greenfield Lutheran Church on December 1, 1929 in a class of 17, with an “Excellent” (according to the church record book) knowledge of Christian essentials. She attended St. Olaf College and the Minneapolis Business College, and graduated from there in 1936. Then she was an Executive Secretary at the Mayo Clinic. She was married to Vernon Burmeister of Harmony on February 14, 1937, by her father, in Greenfield Lutheran Church. She was the office secretary in Greenfield Lutheran Church from 1959 to 1995. She was a member of Greenfield, the Ladies Aid, the Esther Circle, and the Photozetean Club.
Esther and Vernon farmed near Harmony until his death in 1976. During her lifetime she experienced many amazing changes, including travel by horse and sleigh, airline travel, a helicopter ride, motorcycle rides, and travel to Norway. She was a ham radio operator and learned Morse code, played the piano, used a computer, raised beautiful roses on the farm, did beautiful needlepoint (pictures, chair covers and pillows), played basketball and kittenball in high school, and climbed through a window for the last time at age 90 when she locked herself out of her house.
Esther is survived by her children: Richard (Jackie) Burmeister, Harmony, Mary (Roger) Sanders, Bend, Oreg., and Joanne Burmeister, Harmony; several nieces and nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and siblings Ruth, Lois, Oscar, and Harald.
Memorials may be given to Greenfield Lutheran Church, Greenfield Cemetery, or wherever you choose.