CATHERINE M. LESTER

Catherine M. Lester, 46, of Freeburg, Ill., born Aug. 21, 1957, in Harlingen, Texas, died of cancer, July 6, 2004. Mrs. Lester was a longtime Alaska resident, having moved to Alaska in 1980. Her children attended Snowshoe Elementary School in Wasilla. The family moved to Illinois in 1996.

She was an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Freeburg, the Millstadt and Waterloo, Ill., Community Bands; and a former member of Nurses for Life of Southern Illinois. She was a graduate of Barnes Hospital School of Nursing, St. Louis, and worked at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, and Valley Hospital in Wasilla. She was a home health nurse and taught natural childbirth classes in the Wasilla area.

She was preceded in death by a son in infancy, Michael Lester; and a daughter, Sarah Lester, who died July 8, 2000, at the age of 17 in a car/train collision in Freeburg.

She is survived by her husband, James M. Lester, whom she married Oct. 2, 1981; a son, Nicholas J. Lester; two daughters, Catherine E. Lester and Carolyn M. Lester, all born in Alaska and all at home; her parents, James and Mary Thornton; her mother-in-law, Jeanette Miksch; two brothers, David, her twin, and Michael (Tanya) Thornton; three sisters, Barbara (Charles) Herron, Sue (Roger) Moritz and Peggy Zamarron; three brothers-in-law, Gary (Teri) Lester, Phillip (Ellen) Lester, and David (Troy) Lester; two sisters-in-law, Jane Kriwinski and Susan Laferte; and nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass was celebrated at St. Joseph in Freeburg and she was buried next to her daughter, Sarah, on July 10, 2004.

Memorials may be made to St. Joseph School, Freeburg and sent to Jim Lester, 610 W. Mill, Freeburg, IL 62243.

Her family said, "She was beloved by all who knew her and will be sorely missed."