Martin James Esser

Martin Esser, 89, of Howard, passed away on Monday, March 11, 2019, at the Good Samaritan Society, Howard. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30am, Saturday, March 16, 2019 at St. Agatha Catholic Church, Howard, with burial to follow in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Howard. Visitation will begin Friday at 5:30pm with a Scripture service at 7:30pm, at the church. Martin James Esser was born March 3, 1930, on a farmstead west of Howard, in Miner County, South Dakota to Clarence and Frances (Feldhaus) Esser. Martin was raised in the Miner County area, where he attended country school. After his schooling he helped on the family farm, until he entered the Army. Martin did training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. After his training he was assigned to the 109th Engineers in Mannheim, Germany. Upon his Honorable Discharge from the service, Martin was united in marriage to Dolores Jeanne Gillen on February 1, 1954 at the St. Joseph Cathedral, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They lived in Howard for one year, where Martin worked for the county grading and scraping which is now the Carthage oil road. He farmed with his Dad until 1959, when he bought a farm west of Canova, where he raised his family, livestock and crops until his retirement in 1992, this is when they moved to Howard. Fun times were spent with family and friends hunting, trapping, ice fishing, tractor pulls and later golfing, woodworking and coin collecting. Those grateful for having shared in his life include his wife Dolores Jeanne of Howard, SD; his children Dan (Carla) Esser; Dean (Darcy) Esser; David (Barb) Esser all of Canova, SD; Linda (Loren) Koepsell of Sioux Falls, SD; Leanne (Cory) Eich of Epiphany, SD; 12 grandchildren; 14 great grandchildren; two step-great grandchildren; three sisters Evelyn Pasket of Minneapolis, MN; Grace Durst of Mitchell, SD; Florence Bockorny of Huron, SD; other relatives and friends. Martin was preceded in death by his parents, a sister Vivian Jones, his step father Beryl Tracy and a granddaughter Allison Koepsell.     

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