Esther Rose Rucks, 92, Cold Spring

February 13, 1925 – March 9, 2017

A Celebration of Life Service will be 11:00 a.m., Friday, March 17, 2017 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church for Esther Rose Rucks, age 92, who passed away peacefully Thursday at Assumption Home. Burial will be in the Union Cemetery, Humboldt, IA.

A gathering of relatives and friends will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Arrangements are with the Wenner Funeral Home, Cold Spring.

Esther (Estera) was born to Kazimierz and Marya (Moneta) Galeski in St. Paul, MN. She worked in Superior, WI at the Lake Superior Shipyards. Esther then traveled to Colorado to work on a large ranch and later owned a peach orchard in Western Colorado. She married Clifford Kirchhof in Las Vegas, New Mexico; Clifford passed way in 1960. She then married Carl Rucks in St. Cloud, MN; Carl passed away in 1987. She loved nature and animals, especially cats and horses. Esther was an avid bird watcher. She always put family first and loved cooking for her family and taking care of her grandchildren. She was a longtime member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.

Survivors include her children, Cal (Mary) Kirchhof, Marcia (Craig) Kimmerle, Ernest (Jane) Kirchhof; sister, Wiktorya “Vicky”; grandchildren, Erin (Mike), Angie (Kevin), Joe (Jessie), Tim, Karli (Ben); great-grandchildren, Sean, Reid, Madeline and Olivia.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, Clifford Kirchhof and Carl Rucks; brother, Antoni “Tony”; sisters, Bronislawa “Bernice, Aniela “Angeline”, Jozefina “Jo”, Genowefa “Gen” and her beloved cat, Raven.

In lieu of flowers memorials are preferred to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.