Esther B. Telleen

Esther B. Telleen, 96, of Batavia, Ill., formerly of Cambridge, Ill., died Saturday, June 26, 2004, at Michaelsen Health Center, Batavia. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, July 3, at the Cambridge Lutheran Church. Rev. Kris Dietzen will officiate. Burial will be in Rosedale Cemetery, Cambridge. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Cambridge Chapel of Stackhouse-Moore Funeral Services. Memorial may be made to the Cambridge Lutheran Church.
The former Esther Borg was born March 3, 1908, in a log cabin near Little Falls, Minn., the daughter of Axel W. and Amanda C. Peterson Borg. Esther was a first-born American, as both of her parents migrated from Sweden in the early 1900's. She moved to Cambridge in 1916 with her parents, two brothers, and a sister, and lived there for 80 years. Esther graduated from Cambridge High School in 1926 as salutatorian. Following graduation, she was employed in the Peoples National Bank in Cambridge until her marriage. In January of 1931, she married Merrill Werbach, of Cambridge, in Princeton, Ill. They operated the Werbach Greenhouse and Flower Shop in Cambridge until his death on Oct. 2, 1949. Esther continued the business with her brother, Walter Borg, until it was sold in 1956. She then was employed as a secretary to the Superintendent of Cambridge Schools and the Board of Education from 1956 through 1960.
In September of 1960, Esther married Kenneth Telleen in Cambridge. They enjoyed attending University of Illinois football games, and Esther maintained that interest in Illinois football throughout her life. Traveling in Sweden was a special time for Esther and Ken. For many summers they spent time at their family house on Madeline Island in northern Wisconsin, especially enjoying the visits of their children and grandchildren.
Esther has been a member of the Cambridge Lutheran Church since moving to Cambridge. During her residence in Cambridge, she was active in the Lutheran Church Women, Henry County Republican Women, Social Hour Club, the Garden Club, the Cambridge Women's Club, and the Red Cross Auxiliary, for whom she collected funds for 50 years. Esther was secretary of the Henry County Fair Association from 1949 until 1955, the first female officer of the association. She was the secretary of her high school graduating class of 1926, and continued that role by arranging homecoming get-togethers for the next 60 years.
Survivors include her husband, Kenneth, Batavia; five sons, Bill (Judy) Werbach, Phoenix, Ariz., Bob (Charlotte) Telleen, Scottsdale, Ariz., Bruce (Nancy) Werbach, Montevallo, Ala., David (Judy) Telleen, Arlington Heights, Ill., and Philip (Sharon) Telleen, Wilmette, Ill.; her grandchildren, David and John Werbach, Susan Lowry, Jill Molli, Fred Telleen, Sara Regis, Karin Goldstein, Kirstin Antonio, Erik Telleen, and Katherine and Paul Telleen; eleven great-grandchildren, Megan, Rebecca, Sydney Esther, and Alexei Werbach, Samuel and Margaret Molli, Keeli and Kyle Telleen, Joseph Goldstein, Cierra Telleen, and Aislinn Lowry.
Her first husband, Merrill, her sister, Ruth Nelson, and two brothers, Arthur and Walter Borg, preceded her in death.
Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at www.stackhousemoore.com.