Raymond Essner

Raymond A. Essner, of Kelso, passed away on December 8, 2022 at Chateau Girardeau at the ripe old age of 100. He was born July 23, 1922 in New Hamburg, MO to Nicholas and Coena Welter Essner.

Raymond grew up on a farm between New Hamburg and Benton, where he worked with his family until age 21. He attended school at St. Lawrence Grade School New Hamburg.  In August 1943 he went to work at Harris Field in Cape and Parks Field in Sikeston, where he received training as an aviation mechanic. He remained there until the end of WW II when he helped prepare over 1700 surplus trainer planes for resale.

Raymond and Marian Ressel of Kelso were married on July 8, 1947. From this union were born four sons and one daughter. Raymond went to work for Compas Hardware (later Burger Hardware) in Kelso in April 1947 where he worked in the service department until 1964. In August 1964 he purchased the Conoco Station in Kelso from Jewell Graves and operated it as Ray’s Conoco until his retirement in 1984. In 1967 Raymond purchased his first school bus and provided bus service to the Kelso C7 School District until 1992 and to St Augustine Grade School until 1996. He had a special relationship with the kids who rode his bus and always received lots of cards every year on Valentine’s Day.

Raymond spent his entire married life in Kelso where he was actively involved in the community. He served on the town council for five years at which time he also served as the town marshal and tax collector. Raymond also served three years on the St Augustine Parish Council and three years on the St Augustine School Board, including one year as president. He was a fifty-year member of Knights of Columbus Council 6420 where he served as Grand Knight in 1990-1991. After he retired, Raymond and Marian drove to Fountainbleu Nursing Home in Cape every Sunday for twenty years to deliver Communion and Prayer Service to the Catholic residents there. Raymond was also a big advocate of the White House Retreat, which he attended for 24 consecutive years (1965-1989) and where he served as a group captain for 12 years.

In his younger years Raymond enjoyed hunting and fishing, but his real passion in life was playing the accordion. He learned to play as a teenager and limited his playing to entertaining his family at home until 1966, when he joined Danny and the Goldtones. He played with the Goldtones almost every weekend at everything from wedding anniversaries to church picnics until they disbanded in 1984. The Beer Barrel Polka was Raymond’s theme song and he played it countless times over his lifetime. In addition to playing the accordion, in his later years he also loved to go on long walks, spend hours sitting in his swing and watching Fox News.

Although all of these activities were important to Raymond, the most important thing in his life was his family and he never missed an Essner family reunion. Raymond was preceded in death by his wife Marian, his parents, two brothers, Herb and Leon, two sisters, Patsy Ressel and Sylvia Reinagel,  and one daughter, Theresa.

Survivors include four sons, Danny (Debbie) Essner and Doug (Leslie) Essner of Cape, David Essner and Dennis (Becky) Essner of Kelso; a daughter, Donna (Chris) Scherer of Benton; three half-sisters, Rosie Horrell of Kelso, Margaret Snider of Farmington and Cecelia Margrabe of Jackson; one stepbrother, Leo “Max” Fuller of New Hamburg, and one stepsister, Jerene Moore of Luxora, AR.

He is also survived by ten grandchildren, Nick Essner, Blake (Christina) Essner, and Shane (Porsh) Wright of Cape; Brent (Malerie) Essner of Jackson; Christina Scherer, John Scherer and Paul Scherer of Benton; Kasie (Josh) Irby of Sikeston; Kerri Essner of St Louis; Jake (Addie) Wright of Ft. Campbell; three great grandsons, Brendan Essner of Jackson, Parker Essner of Cape, and River Irby of Sikeston; and two great granddaughters, Maebry Essner of Jackson and Ellie Essner of Cape.

Pulled From Amick-Burnett website: https://www.amick-burnettfuneralchapels.com/obituary/raymond-essner