Obituary of Dorothy Oster

DOROTHY J. OSTER July 30, 1925 - September 26, 2015 Dorothy Kessler was born July 30, 1925, in Lehr, North Dakota, to Jacob and Anna (Will) Kessler. She grew up on a farm near Lehr, the youngest of seven children. She graduated from Lehr High School in 1943 and moved to Lodi, California, where she worked in the Supply Depot at Port Stockton where supplies were shipped to the Pacific war zone. In 1945 she returned to North Dakota to help her parents on their farm. In Lehr she met Walter D. Sperling. They were married in 1946 and moved back to California where their daughter, Sherrilynn, was born. In 1947 they moved back to Lehr where they opened Sperling’s Bar with Walter’s father. In 1951 Dorothy started her teaching career of 36 years in rural schools in Logan County. She taught in winter and attended summer school at Ellendale Teacher’s College to earn her “standard” degree in 1960. In 1961 she moved her family to Ellendale, ND, to teach in the elementary school system there. In March of 1962 her husband, Walter, passed away. Dorothy continued her teaching career in Ellendale and also continued to attend college in the summer, earning her BS in Education in 1965 from the University of North Dakota, Ellendale Branch. During this period she met and married Arnold Oster of Ellendale in 1964. In 1966 Arnold and Dorothy moved to Jamestown, ND, where she continued to teach until her retirement in 1987. She liked to tell the story of how her father had wanted to send her to college to become a teacher when she graduated from high school but she refused to consider doing that. She then worked so hard over a period of many years to become what she hadn’t wanted to be…a teacher. Teaching became her much loved vocation and her many students still attest to the excellent teacher that she was. Dorothy was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma and was active in the teachers’ union, NDEA (North Dakota Education Association), where she worked to help secure the right of ND teachers to negotiate their contracts. She enjoyed golf and bridge and taught Sunday School for many years as well as being an active member of various women’s groups in the Lutheran church. After retirement, Arnold and Dorothy enjoyed immensely their winters in AZ and their summers in ND, traveling back and forth with a group of much loved “snow bird” friends. After Arnold’s death in 2009, Dorothy moved to Maine to be near her daughter, Sherrilynn, and her family. She resided at Woodlands Assisted Living in Waterville, ME, until her death. Dorothy and Arnold were much loved parents, grandparents and great grandparents to all in their combined families and made a point of seeing all of them and being interested in their lives for as long as they were able. Dorothy was predeceased by her step-son Jonathan Oster. She is survived by her daughter, Sherrilynn Sperling (Richard) Smith of Carrabassett Valley, ME, and her stepdaughters, Betty (Mike) Kelly of Oakes, ND and Marion (William) Sikora of Omaha, NE; by three grandsons, Richard J. Smith III, Joel (Stacy) Smith and Conor (Kathy) Smith, all of Maine; by 5 great grandchildren, Ella, Rhianna, Merrick, Canon and Cora Smith; by nine step grandchildren, Jake Kelly, Angie Steinbach, Michele Rodin, Patrick Kelly, Toni Leapaldt, Kelly Leapaldt, Charlotte Drake, Tammy White, and David Oster; 20 step-greatgrandchildren, Cole, Michael and Jordan Kelly, Megan, Dylan, Lauren, Peyton and Erin Rodine, Callie, Easton, and Sydney Steinbach, Samantha Sherman, Levi, David and Lacey Drake, Jordan Wallace, Stephanie and Kyla White, Gabriella and Casey Oster; 10 step great-greatgrandchildren; and by two of her brothers, Harold Kessler of Lodi, CA and Herbert (Martha) Kessler of Woodland, CA. She was preceded in death by her parents, her two husbands and by four of her siblings, Martha (John) Schoenhals of Shattuck, OK, Clara (Jacob) Schopp of Lehr and Jamestown, ND, Ida (Jibbo) Schuknecht of Sioux Falls, SD, and Raymond (Lorraine) Kessler of Lehr, ND. No public funeral or memorial service is planned at this time. She will be buried in the cemetery in Oakes, North Dakota, with her dear husband, Arnold, after an internment service on May 1, 2016. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to a cause that is dear to you.