Esther Lucille Graham Lehman was born March 10, 1949 at Leroy Saskatchewan. She was the middle daughter born to William and Agnes Graham.  She had an older sister Joyce, and enjoyed being the baby of the family until a younger sister, Janet came along.

Esther grew up on the farm helping her dad with the farm work and often said she was the son he never had. She took her schooling at the local school in Leroy and then went on to attend SIAST in Saskatoon and completed a course in commercial cooking.

Esther married Earl Lehman in July of 1978 and made her life on the farm. She tended her garden and preserved its produce. Her cold room shelves were lined with hundreds of jars of preserves of all kinds. Many days were spent in the raspberry patch or picking saskatoons on the back roads near the farm. She was delighted with a family of new kittens, the baby chicks in the spring, her pet house cats. A happy day was one spent on the lake fishing.

After her marriage to Earl, she began to attend the Seventh Day Adventist Church, was baptized and sat in the back pew near the aisle. That was her spot.

She loved to play scrabble and didn’t often win but this did not dampen her enthusiasm to play. There was always a jig saw puzzle on the table in the winter. Crossword and find the word puzzle books by the dozen.

Esther was talented in hand crafts. She crocheted, and knitted.  She actually had callouses on her fingers from the crochet hook. You were a lucky little girl if you received a set of knitted doll clothes complete with tiny snaps and ribbons and buttons to fit your special doll.  She crocheted many hundreds of beautiful doilies, dish cloths and slippers. She made wool quilts and not like most. She raised the sheep, washed its wool, carded it on her carding machine and assembled a warm and lasting quilt. When she went to live at the Parkland Integrated Health centre, the staff there brought out a latent talent in painting.

Esther had a good memory for names and places and dates. She kept newspaper clippings of the people she knew or who were from her home town. She treasured the cards she received and kept them. We found many, many cards and pictures in her room at the nursing home.  Numerous ones from her sister Janet who kept her up to date with home town news.

Esther passed away on October 22 after a prolonged period of health challenges. She had been so attentively looked after by the staff at the home.  This is greatly appreciated.

Esther was predeceased by her husband Earl Lehman, her parents William and Agnes Graham of Leroy, her sister Joyce Lowenburger, her parents in law Herb and Yvonne Lehman. She is survived by her sister Janet Graham, her niece Sandra Lowenburger, her nephew Byron Lowenburger, her special aunt, Myrtle Henning. Earl’s siblings; Grant (Jean) Lehman, Carol (Denis) Foulston, Judy (Abe) Unrau, and Ron (Marie) Lehman and many of Earl’s nieces and nephews.

A memorial service for Esther was held at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, November 19th, 2019 at Shellbrook Seventh Day Adventist Church, 407 2nd Avenue East Shellbrook, SK. Interment followed in the Lehmann Cemetery, Rosthern, SK.

Family and friends wishing to send online condolences are welcome to visit www.beaulacfuneralhome.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Beau “Lac” Funeral home, Fred Pomrenk, Funeral Director, Shellbrook (306-747-2828).

• Date : 2019-10-22