Esther Caroline Kahler

ESTHER CAROLINE KAHLER

Cedar Rapids

Esther Caroline Kahler, 102, formerly of Cedar Rapids, entered eternal life May 23, 2017, at her home in Portland, Ore. Funeral service: 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 3, at Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories. A visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 2, at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. Burial: Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.

Esther was born Feb. 15, 1915, in Iowa County, Iowa, to Ernest and Anna (Uthoff) Volz. She graduated from Norway High School. On April 10, 1940, she was married to Everett Louis Kahler. Their union was blessed with 68 years of special love and commitment.

Survivors include her daughter, Phyllis Kahler of Portland, Ore.; two grandchildren, Jeanine Kahler of Portland, Ore., and Bryan Craven of Calgary, Canada; three great-grandchildren, Erika (Joel) Olson of Newhall, John Craven of Cedar Rapids and Maeve Kahlersosa of Portland, Ore.; three great-great-grandchildren, Carson Flint and Hadley and Grant Olson; sister-in-law, Mildred Koenig; brother-in-law, Donald Kahler; several special nieces and nephews; plus numerous cousins with whom she enjoyed close relationships.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; son-in-law, Norman Richmann; grandson, Michael Craven; two sisters and brothers-in-law, Eva and Hubert Smith and Anna Mae and Dale Wanamaker; a brother in infancy; brothers-in-law, Frederick Koenig and Floyd, Ivan and Howard Kahler; and sisters-in-law, Shirley and Marguerite Kahler and Mary Volz.

Everett and Esther farmed for more than 30 years near Norway, Ely and Martelle. In later years, Esther also helped her special friend, Marie Stumpff, at the Colony Cone in Amana.

Esther was a member of Grandview Church in Oregon and former member of Eastview Christian and St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Marion, where she enjoyed the fellowship of the St. Mark's Quilters. She was a former vice president of her ancestral Lenox Township Church of the New Jerusalem.

In addition to being a devoted wife, Esther was a dedicated and loving mother and grandmother who gave unselfishly. Memories of Esther will be treasured always, and she will be greatly missed by all those whose lives she touched.

In lieu of flowers, memorial funds have been established to the Lenox Township Church of the New Jerusalem, Attn: Thomas Hart, 1107 12th St. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 or the Lenox Cemetery, Attn: David Uthoff, 415 B Ave. West #283, Walford, IA 52351.

Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.cedarmemorial.com under Obituaries.