Esther Alma Hovland

Esther Alma Hovland, age 94, of Blue Earth, died Thursday, January 13, 2011, at St. Luke(TM)s Lutheran Care Center, Blue Earth, MN.Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 17, 2011, at 3:00 PM, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blue Earth, with Rev. Dr. Mark Wilms, officiating. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery, Blue Earth. Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the church. Patton Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Blue Earth is assisting the family with the arrangements. Web tributes may be left at www.pattonfh.com. Esther was born November 6, 1916, in Crystal Lake, IA, the daughter of Torstein (Ted) and Josephine (Josie) (Skogen) Helgeland. The family soon moved to a farm near Bricelyn, MN. She was confirmed at Bethany Lutheran Church, rural Frost. She attended Homedahl Country School and graduated from Bricelyn High School in 1934 as Valedictorian. She graduated from the Swedish Hospital School of Nursing as an R.N. in 1939. She worked at the Waterloo Hospital in Iowa before marrying Laurence Hovland on March 3, 1940. They farmed in the Bricelyn area for 25 years before moving to Blue Earth where they owned and ran the Rock Shop. Esther also worked as Assistant Director of Nurses at St. Luke(TM)s for 13 years. She was active in Ladies(TM) Aid and Sunday School activities at Bethany Lutheran Church and later loved quilting and Circle Bible Study groups at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blue Earth. She and Laurence attended Mt. Carmel Bible Camp at Alexandria for many years and volunteered with the Latin American Mission for several winters in Laredo, Texas. She was a 4-H Adult Leader for many years and also was active in the Farm Bureau, WCTU, Hospice, Interfaith Caregivers and the Gideon Auxiliary. Esther Alma Hovland is survived by her sons, Lyle (Pam) Hovland of Madison Lake, Keith (Karen) Hovland of St. Paul, Claire (Cheryl) Hovland of Andover, her daughters, Barbara (Charles) Baker of Frost, Sheryl (Paul) Hove of St. Paul, her brothers-in-law, Howard (Eunice) Hovland of Sioux Falls, SD, and Henry Blohm of Kiester, her sisters, Agnes Lodden of Humboldt, Iowa, and Vivian (Cy) Olson of Albert Lea, her 21 grandchildren and step-grandchildren, 31 great- and step-great-grandchildren, and 3 step-great-great grandchildren. Esther was preceded in death by her parents, husband and grandson Matthew Lee (Hiniker) Hovland, her sister, Selma Kiihn, and three brothers, Norman, Gilman and Jerome Helgeland.