Northcrest Community

Ramona L. Esbeck

Ramona L. Esbeck

Ramona L. Esbeck, age 109, passed away Thursday, November 4, 2021, at Northcrest Community in Ames. Her body has been gifted to the University of Iowa Department of Anatomy in Iowa City, Iowa.

Memorial services will be held at a later date.

Ramona Luella Esbeck, daughter of William and Sena (Hansen) Esbeck was born on October 7, 1912, on a farm east of Elk Horn, Iowa, in Audubon County. She was baptized and confirmed at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church of Elk Horn, Iowa, where she was still a member.

Ramona attended a one-room rural school in Oakfield Township, Audubon County, and graduated from Elk Horn High School in 1930. After one summer of Teacher Training at Shenandoah, Iowa, she taught at a one-room rural school in Oakfield Township for six years.

In 1941, Ramona received her B.A. Degree from Iowa State Teacher's College, Cedar Falls, Iowa, now the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). She then taught Home Economics for two years in Walnut, Iowa, and four years in Atlantic, Iowa. In September of 1948, she joined the Iowa State Extension Service and taught for eight years as the home economist for Black Hawk County.

In growing up on the farm she was a 4-H Club member for ten years and learned much from that experience. Joining the state staff was a wonderful opportunity. In 1956, she became State 4-H Program Leader.

In 1960, Ramona received her Master's Degree from Iowa State University.

Some of Ramona's honors have been: president of Audubon County 4-H Girl's Club in 1928; president of Audubon County Rural Teacher's Association in 1937; president and member of Theta Theta Epsilon in 1940; she has been an active member of the Ames Women's Club since 1975, serving as president from 1984-1985, and held other leadership positions. She was also a member of the National Retired Federal Employees and Epsilon Sigma Phi.

Ramona received the Iowa State Extension Services Outstanding Achievement Award in 1955. In 2012 and 2013, Ramona received the Iowa Centenarian Award from the Iowa Department of Aging and in 2013 she received the Carrie Chapman Catt Recognition. In April 2019, she received a Membership Award for 75 years of membership with the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Ramona was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Marjorie; brothers, Leland, Howard (Ruth), and Donald; sister, Thelma (Roy) Wehde, who passed away in May 2019. Her brother, Gordon (Jan) Esbeck is the last sibling surviving and lives in Tipton, Iowa.

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