Esther Lackman

Esther Lucille Lackman was born December 22, 1923, the daughter of Fred and Rosie Tinkelbach Kollbaum. She passed away Sunday, April 28, 2013, at the Denison Care Center in Denison, Iowa, at the age of 89.
Esther was born in Danbury, Iowa. She received her education in rural schools near her home. After she finished her education Esther cleaned houses in Denison and also for neighboring farm families. She was united in marriage to Bernard John Francis Lackman at the St. Austins Chapel in Austin, Texas, on September 27, 1942, and were blessed with the birth of five children. The couple settled in San Antonio, Texas for three years and in 1944 they moved to Varina, Iowa. In 1946 they moved to Kiron, Iowa, where Esther worked at Jacks Caf.
Esther loved her family and enjoyed cooking big family dinners, especially her homemade soups, for the Kollbaum and Lackman family picnics. Many memorable fishing and camping trips were also taken by the family. When her children were younger, she taught 4th grade prayer group and the kids would always have a watermelon seed spitting contest. Esther kept busy sewing, crocheting, gardening, and canning. For fun she liked to play Bingo, marbles, travel with Dena, and go to the dog and horse races. When she watched television she would pick a good Western or follow the Chicago Cubs baseball team when they played.
Esther was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bernard John, Sr. in 1997; one daughter, Julie in 2011, and her husband, Dennis Blunk; one grandson, Joseph Lee Petersen; five sisters: Irene Johnson, Margaret Wissink, Mable Christiansen, Marie Prussing; and Hilda Paulsen; five brothers: Dick, Ray, John, Fred, and Al Kollbaum. Survivors include four children: Bernard Lackman, Jr. and his wife, Mary of Ida Grove; Charles Lackman and his wife, Pam of Denison; Virginia Petersen and her husband, Robert of Denison; and Bonnie Haptonstall and her husband, Lonny of Waldron, Arkansas; seventeen grandchildren, twenty-one great-grandchildren; and three great-great grandchildren; two sisters: Dena Nemitz of Denison; and Rose Nielsen and her husband, Melvin of Ida Grove; other relatives and friends.