Esther Timp
Esther Timp
Esther Anna Timp, age 95 of Calmar, IA, died on Thursday, May 7, 2020 at the home of her son Gary surrounded by her family.
A private family service will be held for Esther’s on Monday, May 11, 2020 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Calmar with Rev. Robert Gross presiding. The service will be livestreamed at 11 a.m. on https://www.facebook.com/CFOSparishes Burial will be in the St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery.
Memorials may be sent in memory of Esther to her daughter Patti: 401 Winneshiek Ave, Decorah, IA 52101.
Esther Anna, the daughter of Joseph & Anna (Schmitt) Holthaus was born July 21, 1924 at the family farm near Festina. She was the eighth of 11 children. Esther attended St. Mary’s School in Festina, graduating in 1938. On September 26th, 1944 she married Lawrence William Timp at Our Lady of Seven Dolors in Festina. Esther & Lawrence farmed northeast of Calmar, while raising their nine children. They were married 26 years. When Lawrence passed away in 1970 at the age of 50, she remained on the farm until moving to Calmar. In 2008 Esther moved into a Condo in Decorah next to her daughter Nancy and resided there until her health required her to move to Wellington Assisted Living in 2016, then the nursing home and later to Eastern Star Nursing home. Esther’s life revolved around her family, faith and community. She was a religious person attending mass at St. Al’s most days after moving to Calmar. She taught her children the value of hard work while tending her large garden, canning, and freezing the bounty. She was a gifted seamstress sewing most of the clothing for her daughters and herself for all special occasions, even her daughter’s wedding dress. She had many talents including crocheting, making afghans for her children and all 24 grandchildren, painting dish towels, and teaching all her daughters to embroider. She was very active in the church, making many quilts. In her later years she began painting; watercolors were her favorite. She painted many wonderful scenery pictures which the family will continue to enjoy for years to come. After Lawrence’s death she needed to learn to drive, and then enjoyed traveling around the states and the world, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand were a few of her favorites. She also enjoyed refinishing furniture. She and a few friends were instrumental in refinishing woodwork at St. Al’s in Calmar, where she was a longtime member. She spent many years as a volunteer at Winneshiek Medical Center. She received the Governor’s award, for 10 years of volunteer service, she received a pin recognizing her 2,000 volunteer hours. She enjoyed going to the Senior Center in Calmar each week for meals, bingo, and visiting with new and old friends. She loved her family and it was her greatest joy to spend time with them; Christmas and Easter were always extra special.
The family has discovered she kept journals from the early 1960’s. They have been very entertaining and give a glimpse into her daily life and we found out how often Dad went fishing.
Esther is survived by her children, Gary, Decorah, IA, Nancy (Marvin) Pankow, Decorah, IA, Myra (Jerry) Crow, Savage, MN, Patricia (Frank) Graves, Decorah, IA, Linda Peterson, Decorah, IA, Kevin (Nancy) Timp, Calmar, IA, Sandra (Kim) Meyer, Castalia IA, Lisa (Brian) Bram, Eagan, MN, and daughter-in-law Kris (Ed) Burke, Spillville, IA. She is also survived by twenty-four grandchildren, forty great grandchildren and four great great grandchildren. Her sisters Alice Scheidel and Delores (Dale) Meyer, sister-in-law Sandra Holthaus, Rosemary Holthaus, Bea Timp, Helen Timp, brother-in-law Cletus Timp, and many nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her husband Lawrence, son David, son-in-law James Numedahl, and grandson Jared Timp. Her parents Joseph and Anna Holthaus, Father and mother-in-law William and Louise Timp, brothers, Walter, Nilus, Cyril, Robert, and Rufus, sisters Hedwig Teiskotter, Sylvia Bodensteiner, and Oda Lensing, brothers-in-law, Alvin and Victor Timp, sisters-in-law Bea Schmitt, Agnes Schneberger, and Gladys Huber.