Jeanette Lester

Jeanette passed away peacefully in the early afternoon as her husband of 69 years read to her from the Gospel of John. She was 94.

Jeanette was born on a farm just outside of Valley City, North Dakota to parents who had immigrated from Norway. She and her five siblings were raised speaking Norwegian. She was a 5’ 2” member of a high school state champion girls basketball team as a defensive specialist.

She graduated from nurse’s training in 1949 and moved to Seattle, Washington to begin her nursing career, a career that she loved. She attended The Lutheran Bible Institute and there met her husband Bob. They were married July 12, 1952. She moved with Bob as he attended seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. After he was ordained a Lutheran pastor, she moved with him to Leonard, North Dakota, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Seattle, Washington, Renton, Washington, Ritzville, Washington and finally Olympia, Washington where they both retired.

She was always active in the various churches and raised her four children encouraging them to work hard and yet don’t take things too seriously. She was a sports fan but would quickly remind her family after a tough Seahawk loss, “It’s not the end of the world.”

Jeanette is survived by her husband Bob, daughter Jan (Kingston, WA), sons Bob III (Olympia, WA), Mark (Edmonds, WA) and Joel (Victoria, BC) and sister Sonja. She has 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Since she worked with newborns for a portion of her nursing career, she was particularly drawn to babies (and them to her).

Jeanette’s memorial will be held Saturday, October 2 at 2:00 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Olympia, WA.