Esther Shoquist
POLSON — Esther Evelyn (Twedt) Shoquist, retired secretary, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, at St. Luke Extended Care in Ronan. Esther was born Sept. 5, 1923, on the homestead farm on Fairfield Bench to parents, George and Clara (Talifson) Twedt.
Esther attended grade school at the original East Greenfield School and also Fairfield Grade School. She attended Choteau High School and later the new Fairfield High School, where she graduated in 1941. She attended Great Falls Commercial College and also worked at the time for Consolidated Freightways.
While on a visit to San Diego, she decided to stay and became employed at the U.S. Naval Hospital where many wounded, from the battlefields of the South Pacific war zone, were treated during WWII. She returned to Fairfield to help her father on the family farm while her brother was deployed as part of the D-Day invasion of Europe. She also worked at the Fairfield Ration office during WWII.
Esther married Grant Shoquist in March of 1945 at St. Paul Lutheran Church. (Esther and Grant were, as infants, baptized on this day, later confirmed this same day and eventually married on this day.) Esther and Grant resided on the Shoquist family farm until Grant’s death. They raised three children on the farm. Esther was secretary at the Montana FWP at Freezeout Lake management area for 28 years.
After retirement, Esther spent winters in Arizona for many years. Summers were spent at the family cabin at Seeley Lake enjoying many happy times with family and friends. She also enjoyed the deer, loons and the occasional bear that made visits to the cabin and created a few scary moments. She enjoyed the outdoors and believed everything was beautiful in its own way.
Esther was a past member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Grace Lutheran Church and currently Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Polson. She was a member of Sons of Norway Lodge, Ladies Auxiliary VFW and Eagles Auxiliary. She enjoyed bowling, golfing and dancing.
Esther especially enjoyed watching her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in all their sports activities. She was grateful and proud of her loving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was also very proud of her Norwegian heritage.
In addition to her husband, Esther’s parents; brother, Orris and sister, Clarice, precede her in death.
She is survived by her children, Mike (Marylou), Darrell (Francie), and Connie (Lenny) Glenn; grandchildren, Dr. Devin (Abigail) Shoquist, Liesel Shoquist, Tim (Kendra) Shoquist, Lindsey (Jeb) Thomas, and five great-grandchildren.
Memorial services at Grace Lutheran Church and burial at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Fairfield, Montana, will be held in the spring of 2017. Suggested memorials may be made to the Great Falls Rescue Mission at P.O. Box 129, Great Falls, MT 59403 or the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at P.O. Box 50, Memphis, Tennessee, 38101. Memories and condolences may be sent to the family at: www. thelakefuneralhome.com.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Lake Funeral Home and Crematory.
