Traveled to every state in the U.S.

Esther S. Welliver, 93, of Fort Calhoun, died Sept. 3, 2011, at the Hospice House in Omaha. Services were Friday, Sept. 9, at Lord of Love Lutheran Church in Omaha. Interment was at Westlawn-Hillcrest Cemetery in Omaha.

Esther Sophia Hansen was born Aug. 25, 1918, in Orum to Ole Edward and Marie (Moller) Hansen. She attended Orum and Rose Hill schools. Her mother died when she was just four years old, leaving seven children (ages 1-13) to be raised by their father.

On Aug. 25, 1940, she married Floyd I. Welliver. The couple lived in Omaha.

Mrs. Welliver worked at a variety of jobs, from sewing buttons on long johns, working in a brush factory, as a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II, doing housecleaning, laundry and ironing for other people, and then, the best job she ever had, as a wireman for Western Electric. She retired after 23 years with the company, later renamed AT&T.

She loved to bowl, golf, usher at the Omaha Civic Auditorium and Omaha Playhouse, and travel to every state in the United States, with international trips to Israel, Denmark, Great Britain and China.

She moved to Autumn Pointe Assisted Living in Fort Calhoun in October of 2010. She made many new wonderful friends there, until suffering a major stroke on Aug. 28, 2011.

She will always be remembered for being a hard worker, having a spotlessly clean house, her quick wit and a heart of gold.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Roger and Diane Welliver of Omaha; many nieces and nephews in the Blair, Fort Calhoun, Arlington, Fremont and Omaha area, as well as in Colorado, Texas, Idaho, Missouri and Iowa; and many dear friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Floyd; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Jens and Emma Hansen and Carl and Eleanor Hansen; four sisters and brothers-in-law, Emma and Axel Hansen, Meta and John Taylor, Edna Evans, and Anna and Clarence Toelke; nieces and nephews.