Elsie J. Wester, 97, of Cherokee, Iowa, formerly of rural Paullina, Iowa, passed away Saturday afternoon, February 20, 2021 in Accura Healthcare of Cherokee.
Funeral services for family only will be held on Friday, February 26th,  at 1:30 p.m. at the Oakdale Evangelical Free Church, rural Meriden, Iowa. Pastor Tyler Stauffer will officiate. Burial will be in the Liberty Township Cemetery, rural Meriden, Iowa. The funeral service will be livestreamed on the Oakdale Evangelical Free Church website. Public visitation will be on Thursday from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. The family will not be present at the visitation. Masks will be required at the visitation. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com
Elsie was born on February 11, 1924 at Calumet, Iowa to Oscar & Betty (Hanson) Reimers. She graduated from Liberty Township School of Calumet in 1940 and from Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls in 1942. She was an elementary school teacher for several years. She went to Trinity Bible College in Chicago for two years graduating in 1951 and then worked at the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship headquarters in Chicago. Elsie was married to Roy Wester on February 14, 1953 at the Oakdale Evangelical Free Church and they lived on a farm near Paullina. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, calligraphy, painting, cake decorating, and playing a variety of games with friends and family. She was a member of the Oakdale Church and was active in the women and youth ministries and singing in the church choir and trios. Roy and Elsie enjoyed traveling with friends and family and visited all fifty states, Europe, and Africa.
Elsie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Roy on May 4, 2010, her sister Elvera, and brothers-in-law Eldon Larson and Donald Erdmann.
She is survived by her four children: Loren (Darla) Wester of Meriden; Colleen (Paul) Erdmann of The Villages, Florida; Carol (Gerald) Smith of Holstein; Lowell Wester and David Nelson of Bellingham, Washington; eight grandchildren: Lara (David) Jimerson, Ward (Sarah) Wester, Chris Erdmann, Drew Erdmann, Nick (Becky) Erdmann, Jenn (Kyle) Butler, Leighton Smith and Janel Smith; nine great grandchildren: Farren and Coen Wester, Max and Cole Erdmann, Savannah and Kasen Butler, and Henry, Vivian, and Caroline Smith; sister: Eleda (Merle) Wester of Cherokee; and many nieces and nephews.