Cover photo for Harriet Joan Koester's Obituary
Harriet Joan Koester Profile Photo
1931 Harriet 2020

Harriet Joan Koester

May 19, 1931 — February 7, 2020

Harriet Joan Koester
Paullina, Iowa
Services for Harriet Joan Koester, age 88, of Paullina who passed away on Friday, February 7, 2020 at Orange City Area Health. Her funeral service will be 10:30 A.M. on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at Zion Lutheran Church in Paullina with Rev. Donald Meyer ~ officiating.
Graveside service will be held at 1:30 P.M. on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at Marcus-Amherst Cemetery in Marcus.
Visitation will be after 3 P.M. on Friday, February 14, 2020 with family present from 5 – 7 P.M. with a scripture wake held at 7 P.M. at the Eldridge Family Funeral Home in Paullina.

Harriet Joan Koester was born on May 19th, 1931 to Will and Elsie Pavlik Berger of Hinton, Iowa. Joan was baptized and confirmed in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Marcus, Iowa in 1944.
Her education was received in Consolidated Schools of Liberty Township, Merrill, Iowa and Grand Meadow Township south of Marcus, Iowa. Joan attended Wayne State Teacher’s College, Wayne, Nebraska for two years prior to entering Nurse’s training in the Methodist Hospital, Sioux City, Iowa. She earned a Registered Nurse (RN) license in 1953.
She worked in the Methodist Hospital until her marriage to Loren D. Polson on February 20, 1954. To this union four children were born: Lynne Ranae died in infancy, Cynthia Ann, Dale Duane and Eric Brian. The Polson family lived near Marcus until 1965. They then moved to a farm north of Hartley. Loren was killed in a small airplane crash on October 1st, 1969 south of Hartley. The family continued to live on the farm.
Joan worked as a RN in Mental Health, Cherokee Iowa and the Community Memorial Hospital in Hartley for a total of 30 years, retiring in 1990.
On August 5, 1982 Joan was united in marriage to Weber H. Koester of Paullina, Iowa. The two families were united as one in Christ with a total of nine children, three spouses and six grandchildren.
Weber and Joan lived on a farm 2 ½ miles southwest of Paullina. Joan became a confirmed member of Zion Lutheran Evangelical Church in Paullina in 1989.
Joan was a wonderful and loving mother to Weber’s three girls who were still growing up at home – Tracey, Cindy and Janey.
Joan was always active in her churches as a Sunday School teacher, member of Ladies’ organizations, choir member and Lamplighter in recent years. She enjoyed gardening, music, reading, and compiling family photo albums. She also served as a girl’s 4H Leader in Cherokee and O’Brien counties.
Joan took great pride in her family and their many family gatherings. Most of all, she treasured the times of sharing, with husband Weber, their love for Jesus Christ.
Preceding her in death were parents Will and Elsie Berger, in-laws Gottfrid and Julia Polson, husband Loren D. Polson, infant baby Lynne Ranae, brother William J. Berger, brother Dean and wife Ruby Berger, son-in-law Larry Jorgensen, and granddaughter Kelly Laughery.
Survivors include husband Weber H. Koester; children Cynthia Ann Rubenstein, Dale Duane (Kathy) Polson, Eric Brian (Carol) Polson; stepchildren Debra Jorgensen, Pamela Laughery, Gary (Peg) Koester, Tracey (Tom) Feldotto, Cindy (Jay) Griebel, and Janey (Mike) Brooner; grandchildren Mark Jorgensen, Kyle (Destiny) Jorgensen, Tyler (Ashley) Jorgensen, Ryan (Hillary) Laughery, Christina (Ryan) O’Hare, Derek (Katie) Laughery, Brandi (Tim) Sestak, Jennifer (Bart) Wall, Michael Koester, Jessica Polson (Christopher Miller), Ethan (Chelsea) Polson, Emily Polson, Julia Polson, Bedilu Polson, Conner Feldotto, Sara Feldotto, Jackson Griebel, Jacob Griebel, Jayden Griebel, Stephanie Brooner, Lucy Brooner; and twelve great-grandchildren (with more on the way).
Joan requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in her honor may be made to any of the following charities:
• World Vision International To visit the website: https://www.worldvision.org/
• MAP International To visit the website: https://www.map.org/
• Habitat for Humanity To visit the website: https://www.habitat.org/
• World Gospel Mission To visit the website: https://www.wgm.org/
• Lutheran World Relief (LWR) To visit the website: https://lwr.org/
• Zion St. John Lutheran School To visit the website: https://www.zsjpaullina.org/index.html
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Harriet Joan Koester, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Visitation

Friday, February 14, 2020

3:00 - 7:00 pm (Central time)

Eldridge Family Funeral Home - Paullina

217 East Logan Street , Paullina, IA 51046

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Service

Saturday, February 15, 2020

10:30 - 11:15 am (Central time)

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Guestbook

Visits: 47

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Send Flowers

Send Flowers

Plant A Tree

Plant A Tree