Services for Esther Hansen, 81 of Blair, who died at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha Feb. 7, 1997, were Monday, Feb. 10 at First Lutheran Church in Blair. Burial was in the Blair Cemetery.

Esther Marie Hansen, daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. Niels Christian Carlsen was born Nov. 1, 1915 at Miltown, Wis. She was baptized at the Lutheran Church in Miltown.

The family moved to Royal, Iowa when she was four years old. She was confirmed at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Royal. In 1930, her family moved to Blair.

She graduated from Blair High School in 1933. She attended Dana College for one year before enrolling in the Immanuel Hospital School of Nursing in Omaha, where she graduated in 1940. She served in the capacity of a registered nurse in nursing homes in Racine, Wis. and Audubon, Iowa.

She married Rev. Thorvald Hansen May 25, 1943. He was an ordained Lutheran minister who served parishes in Avoca, Iowa; Hartland and Pewaukee, Wis.; Racine Wis. and Audubon, Iowa. They moved to Blair in 1981 after his retirement.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Thorvald in 1986; her sister, Lois Sorensen and two brothers, Raymond Carlsen and Alvin Carlsen.

She is survived by five daughters and sons-in-law, Carolyn and Gene DiStefano, Charlotte, NC; Ruth and Floyd Peck, Olathe, Kans.; Paula Hansen and Rev. C. Reed Brinkman, Philadelphia, PA; Sarah and Joseph Anderson, Blair; Lois and Allen Borkowski, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; 11 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; four brothers, Rev. Vener Carlsen, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Viggo Carlsen, Blair; Rev. Stanley Carlsen, Des Moines, Iowa; Rev. Niels Carlsen, Watsonville, Calif. and two sisters, Rhoda hall, Spokane, Wash. And Eunice Larsen, Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Memorials may be directed to Good Shepherd Home or First Lutheran Church.

Campbell-Aman Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Find A Grave Memorial# 115012384