Crookston - Esther Sorum, 98, died Friday, June 11, 1999 at Riverview Nursing Home in Crookston.
Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. on Monday, June 14 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crookston. Interment was in Oakdale Cemetery. The Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home of Crookston was in charge of the arrangements.
Esther was born on April 11, 1901 in the log home of her parents, Andreas and Johanna (Johansen) Movick, on their farm north of Holt.
Esther grew up there and attended Ringbo grade school. She worked as a waitress at Fargo, ND and then at the Comstock Hotel in Moorhead. She later worked in Thief River Falls and Procter.
On June 6, 1924 she was united in marriage to Andrew Sorum at Procter, and the couple lived at Holt until moving to Crookston in 1925. Esther worked as a retail clerk at various times over the years, and during the summers of 1942 and 1943 worked in the Russian dandelion fields near Crookston. Esther also worked in the potato harvest fields for many years. Andrew died on March 28, 1972.
Esther was a longtime member of Trinity Lutheran Church where she taught Sunday school and was in the women's groups, serving as president of Trinity's American Lutheran Church Women in 1961-62.
She was a member of the Crookston American Legion Auxiliary since 1929 and was a past president. Esther also served as president of the Minnesota 9th District Auxiliary and was the department's historian. She sold poppies on Poppy Day for over 50 years. She was also a member of the Crookston VFW Auxiliary and World War I Veterans Auxiliary.
In 1944, she joined the Daughters of Norway, which later merged with the Sons of Norway, and was treasurer of the organization for 13 years and received a life membership. Esther served on Crookston's Carmen Addition election board for many years and was also Carmen District 251 school board treasurer for many years. For 16 years she was treasurer of the Polk County Cancer Society.
Being an avid historian, Esther researched and wrote Sorum Heritage, a family tree and history of Andrew's great-grandfather and his descendents from the time he emigrated from Norway in 1854. In June of 1985, she was honored as the Experienced Citizen of the Month by the Crookston Park and Recreation Department.
Esther is survived by one son, Reverend Duane (wife, Evelyn Kiser) Sorum of Mandan, ND; two daughters-in-law, Barbara Sorum of Edina and Peggy Sorum of Ruislip, England; five grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; one sister, Hylda Marian Curtis of Duluth; and many other relatives.
She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; two sons, Norman and Gardner Sorum; one brother, Alf Movick; and one daughter-in-law, Ann (Mrs. Duane) Sorum.
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