Esther Marie Uden

Esther Marie Uden, age 80, passed away Friday, February 22, 2019 at Compass Memorial Hospital in Marengo. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 26, 2019, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Marengo, with Pastor Andrew Gray officiating. Burial will be in the Fairview Cemetery, Earlville. Visitation: 4 to 7 p.m., Monday, February 25, 2019, at Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo. A memorial fund has been established.

Esther is survived by her four children Joel (Deb) Uden, of Coralville, Cheryl (Kevin) Zumbach, of Dubuque, Julie Engelken, of Des Moines, and Jeff (Nancy) Uden, of Hudson; 11 grandchildren Alan (Jessie) Zirtzman, Amy Zirtzman (Josh Cole), Megan Uden, Jenna Uden, Carrie (Ryan) Frasher, Sarah Wolf (Tom Wilson), Brian (Lindsay) Wolf, Josh Engelken, Gabrielle Engelken, Justi (Sam) Folladori, and Trey Uden (Molly Dvorak); 13 great grandchildren; a brother Kenneth (Janet) Stock; and a sister Myra (Keith) Taylor. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband James, a daughter Sandra Zirtzman, a great granddaughter Sophie, a sister Cathryn, and a brother David.

Esther Marie Stock Uden was born August 22, 1938, in Cherokee, the daughter of Rev. William and Lillian (Hacker) Stock. She graduated from Coon Rapids High School in 1956. On June 16, 1957, she married James Uden and had five children while residing in Des Moines. In 1967 they moved their family to Earlville, Iowa. Esther was the school secretary at Earlville Elementary for seven years before leaving to help run the Mar-Jo Motel in Earlville with her husband. The couple moved back to Des Moines, where Esther spent 20 years working for EDS, retiring in 2008. After retirement, Esther and Jim moved to Marengo, where she was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church and was an honorary member of St. John’s Ladies Aid. Esther loved her family very much and enjoyed attending all family events. She also enjoyed card club, reading, coloring, crossword puzzles, and playing scrabble and other games on her kindle. She was an Iowa Hawkeye fan and loved watching football and basketball games.