Agnes Messer

Agnes Messer, 94, of Wichita, Kansas, passed away on May 28, 2020, at the Via Christi Senior Village in Wichita. Private graveside service at Greenwood Cemetery with Father Jim Weldon, officiating. Agnes Eleanor Biesterfeld was the second of William and Rosina Biesterfeld’s 11 children. She was born January 4, 1926, at the Black Diamond Mine compound near Washburn, North Dakota. She spent her childhood on several farms in the Washburn area. It was the summer of her 16th year that she took her first trip to visit her Grandmother Irish in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Biesterfeld family and the Kateley family lived close together and the children grew up as one family. Agnes started dating LeRoy Kateley upon her return from Wisconsin. In 1945, Agnes traveled to San Francisco to see LeRoy prior to his enlistment in the Navy. They were married in Reno after which LeRoy deployed to the Pacific and Agnes returned to Washburn. After the war, Agnes and LeRoy lived in Bismarck where their daughter, Marcella, was born. Tragedy struck during the summer of 1949 when Leroy, his brother and two friends died in a boating accident on the Missouri River. During the summer of 1952, Agnes’ younger sister introduced her to LeRoy Messer. After a whirlwind courtship, the couple was married in December of 1952. Agnes and LeRoy added four more daughters to the family between 1954 and 1960. The family joke was when the last two daughters doubled up (twins) the hope for a son was gone. Agnes and LeRoy lived in Washburn and Kenmare, ND, before moving to Williston in 1959, where they remained until 2005, when they joined their daughters in Kansas. Not only was Agnes a loving wife, mother, and grandmother; she was a wonderful cook and seamstress. Her pride and joy was her sewing machine. All her daughters and grandchildren benefitted from homemade clothes that looked like they were purchased at the local department store. She was very frugal. Many an outfit was made from previously worn clothes. She was very proud of the wool coats she made for the twins out of LeRoy’s old Navy p-coats. Her knowledge of cooking served her well as she raised her daughters. The family ate few prepackaged or processed food products. Instead, garden fresh, farm-raised, made from scratch meals were served daily. A large garden provided the produce Agnes turned into canned and frozen goods for the winter. If it could be preserved or pickled – it was. Agnes is survived by four daughters, Marcella Harlan, Valerie (Marc) Calvert, Peggy (David) Howe and Becky (James) Wheeler; 8 grandchildren, Allyn Harlan, Aric Harlan, Stephanie Mitchell, Charley Ann Ahlstedt, John (Gail) Ginther, Marie Bartholomew, Mathew (Jina) Sugg and Ryan Sugg; 19 great-grandchildren, and 4 sisters, Darlyne (Ray) Best, Charlotte (Bob) Landenberger, Ruth (Pat) Brown, Barbara Vaith. Agnes was preceded in death by her husbands, LeRoy Kateley and LeRoy Messer; daughter, Bonnie Ahlstedt; son-in-law, Steve Harlan; grandson, James Messer; granddaughter, Ali Wheeler; grandson-in-law, William Mitchell; 4 brothers and 2 sisters. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S. Market, Wichita, KS 67202 and The Salvation Army, 350 N. Market, Wichita, KS 67202. Arrangements are with Downing and Lahey Mortuary West.