Esther Joy Witmer

Esther Joy Stratton Witmer, 106, died peacefully on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, at her home in Prairie Hills Assisted Living, Tipton. Memorial services will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, at Tipton United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Paul Fredericksen officiating. Burial of her cremated remains will follow in the Healy Cemetery, Moscow, Iowa. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, at Fry Funeral Home, Tipton. Online condolences may be shared at www.fryfuneral home.com. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established for the Tipton Ambulance Service and the Tipton United Methodist Church. Esther was born Dec. 2, 1908, in West Branch, the daughter of Charles and Maud Branson Stratton. She graduated as saluta-torian of the class of 1927 of West Branch High School. She attended Iowa Wesleyan College and the University of Iowa. She was a teacher in the rural schools for three years before marrying Leroy Witmer on June 6, 1931, in West Branch. They had two children, Richard Edwin and Shirley Jean. In 1941, they moved to the farm they had purchased west of Tipton, where they lived until moving to Tipton in 1974. Esther liked farming and the country life. In 1949, she wrote "A Country Woman's Creed." In 2005, she moved to Prairie Hills which she called home until her death. She was an active member of the Tipton United Methodist Church, Farm Bureau, having served as state chairman of the Women's Farm Bureau for four years, and was an Iowa Master Farm Homemaker. She was a member of Chapter DY PEO and 19th Century Club. Esther enjoyed quilting and was an avid reader and crossword puzzle worker. Esther is survived by her son, Richard and wife Patricia of Indianapolis; four grandchildren, Mark Frederick and wife Julie, Lynn Brown and husband Steve, Richard Witmer Jr. and wife Jo Ellen and Cindi Woods and husband Len; her great-grand-children, Christi, Richard Witmer III, Kellie and David, Walter and Jack and Steve and Nicole; and five great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Leroy; daughter, Jean; her parents; and three sisters, Maureen Parry (John), Geraldine Daut (Donald) and Violet Witmer (Robert).