Esther Colebank

Esther Colebank, 86, Bismarck, passed away on May 3, 2020 at Augusta Place, Bismarck. A funeral service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Pkwy, Bismarck. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck, where a prayer service will begin at 7:00 p.m. Burial will be held at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at the ND Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. In adherence to CDC regulations, there will be a maximum number of guests able to attend and they are asked to maintain social distancing. To view the funeral service livestream, go to Esther’s obituary on www.parkwayfuneral.com.

Esther Marie was born June 17, 1933. She was the sixth child born to Christian and Mathilda (Kallis) Ruff at home on the farm north of Burt, ND.

Esther was educated at a rural school and after waitressing is several Mott restaurants she became the hired girl to take care of two children, Marlene and Larry, who had lost their mother.

At age 19, on December 4, 1952 Esther married Laurence Colebank at the rural Ebeneezer Baptist Church. As they settled into married life with two young kids, they made the depot at Burt their home. Laurence was the telegraph agent for the Northern Pacific Railroad.

In August of 1954, their first child Burton Dean was born and next spring the family moved to Goodrich. Their second child Phyllis Dawn joined the family in 1959.  Esther was a member of the local homemakers, the VFW Auxiliary and the United Methodist Church.  She worked for Unruh’s Hardware and Doerring’s Super Value.

1969, a horrible car accident killed Burton and Phyllis, leaving Laurence and Esther badly injured. In 1972, they moved to Mandan and Esther became employed by the Bobcat Company for five years. In 1977 they moved to Bismarck where she became “The Cleaning Lady.”

Her favorite holiday was Christmas and she decorated the house from one end to the other, often making individual crafty Christmas items for her people.  She would also host a yearly Christmas function and invited all her clients and family to stop by.

Esther was a very good seamstress and cook, learning to make lefse the “right way”. Her German dishes were so tasteful and if company was coming for the weekend, all the stops were out-kuchen, knoephla, sweet rolls, overnight buns, strudels, etc.

She had an artistic bent, whether it was crocheting big dining tablecloths, pictures, big or small.  Refurbishing furniture, dressers, desks, tables or a big old pump organ from a closed rural school.  Then there were the ornaments made from blue dry cleaner bags that required hangers to be shaped and flocked with spray snow.  She would take old clothing and tear them into strips to make rag balls for a local lady who would make them into rugs.

In Bismarck, Albany Street had a birthday club where the ladies got together in the summer for ice cream and a good visit.  As a member of Calvary Methodist Church and UMW, she was involved in numerous comings and goings, she liked putting events together for the church.

She and her sisters had many trips together that they enjoyed-even the scary ones for those of who stayed behind and waited to hear what all happened.  Her favorite may have been the trip to Hawaii with her sister Anna and brother in law Trig.  Esther and Anna were two daredevils who’d get in the car and head out to Iowa and pick up sister Martha and down to Texas to see brother Christ.  There were many family get-togethers with cousins near and far.

Laurence passed away in June of 1999.  Esther stayed on Albany Street for several years and renewed an acquaintance with Larry Kambeitz.  They enjoyed 4-5 years of traveling before Larry lost his battle with a brain tumor. Trips to Dickinson, Iowa and Mott became normal.

Esther is survived by her stepdaughter, Marlene (Dean) Brown, Bismarck, and daughter-in-law, Beatriz Colebank, Virginia Beach, VA. Grandchildren, Michael Brown and his children, Hannah and Noah, Bismarck, Suzanne Brown, West Fargo, Leighton (Susy) Colebank and their children, Cyrus and Jaden Colebank, Los Angeles, CA, Misty Colebank, San Diego, CA, Nathalie Colebank, Virginia Beach, VA, and John Colebank and his children, Bradford and John Jr. Colebank, Virginia Beach, VA; sisters, Anna Tranby (Trygve), Bismarck, Freda Gruebele (Edward), Dickinson, and Martha Graham (Virgil Featherstone), Dickinson; a number of nieces and nephews; special cousins and friends including Vi Almer.

Those waiting with open arms to greet her was her husband, Laurence, son, Burton, daughter, Phyllis, stepson, Larry Colebank, her parents, sister Ella (Woodrow) Pettis, baby sister Esther, and brothers Otto (Jeanette) Kallis, Christ Ruff, and great-grandson, Daryk Michael Brown.