Esther Helen Fast, 100, of Lustre Montana, passed away at Valley View Home on July 6, 2022.
She was born May 30, 1922, to Jacob and Lena Fast. She joined a brother, Elvin and a sister, Erma followed.
Esther was a lifelong member of the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church in Lustre. She taught children’s Sunday school and was active in the women’s mission society. She accepted Jesus as her savior at the age of 9 at an evangelistic tent meeting at her church.
She started her education at Center Bell School in Lustre and graduated from Glasgow High School in 1940.
Esther married Marvin Fast May 10, 1944, when Marvin was on leave from serving the country in the civilian public service. Their first son, Gary, was born in 1945. When Marvin completed his service, he worked for Esther’s parents on the farm. A few years later they purchased the farm from her parents. 6 more children were added to the family, Terry, Wanda, Dale, Glenda, Ricky and Kevin.
Sewing was Esther’s passion. She loved making dresses, wedding, prom, and many little girl dresses. She was asked to sew infant dresses from old wedding dresses that were donated to an organization that gave them to stillborn infants. She also loved to quilt, crochet and embroider, but her greatest joy was giving her creations away.
There was never a small garden at the Fast farm and along with that garden, she had chickens, she milked cows, which bothered her boys since she could out milk them. She did a lot of baking and with all of this she still had a “regular” route when she took and sold her goods “to town”.
Esther was preceded in death by her husband, Marvin; son, Terry; granddaughter, Lauren Handran; her parents, Jacob and Lena Fast; brother, Elvin; son in laws, David Handran and Bill Fladager.
Esther is survived by her sons, Gary Fast(Marcia) of Lustre, Dale Fast of Salem, OR, Ricky Fast(Alicia) of Salem, OR, and Kevin Fast of Belgrade; daughters, Wanda (Tom) Ault of Fort Peck, Glenda Fladager of Scobey and daughter in law, Mona of Fort Peck; sister, Erma Penner of Dallas, OR and brother-in-law Harvey Fast of Glasgow; 20 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, 7 great-great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, cousins, and special friends. She was proud of her family and living to 100 she saw many added to make a very large family with many birthdays to remember- which she did!
A time for friends and family will be held at the Bell Mortuary on Sunday, July 17 th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Celebration of Life will be on Monday, July 18 th at 2:00 p.m at the EMB Church, 344 Wall Street Road, Lustre. Esther will be buried next to Marvin in the EMB Cemetery and refreshments will follow. Condolences may be left at Bellmortuarymontana.com