Jamestown remembers Ellen Eppen, faith-filled life spans Midwest and church community
Ellen Eppen’s funeral at Concordia Lutheran Church gathered Jamestown around a faith-centered life built on family, teaching studies and church community. She was 66.
The pews at Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown held more than a funeral on Friday. They held the story of Ellen Jo Eppen, 66, a woman remembered in Stutsman County for the faith that shaped her, the family she raised and the church community that marked her final service. Eppen died May 26 at Jamestown Regional Medical Center, and her funeral service was held at 2 p.m. at Concordia Lutheran Church, 502 1st Ave N, with Eddy Funeral Home handling arrangements.
Eppen was born March 24, 1960, in Lincoln Park, Michigan, to Ernest H. Erfourth and Margie D. (Hook) Erfourth. She was the youngest of six children, grew up in a large family and later married Alan D. Eppen on May 28, 1983, in Lincoln Park. In Jamestown, her survivors include her husband; children Sarah Eppen, Timothy Eppen and Charlotte, Becky Vonasek and Adam, and Daniel Eppen; six grandchildren, Hunter, Lena, Brytta, Ajay, Philip and Helena; three brothers, Ernest Erfourth, William Erfourth and Lee Erfourth; and her sister, Priscilla Erfourth.
Her obituary described her as a devoted Christian who cherished her Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ, a detail that helps explain why Concordia Lutheran Church was the natural place for her farewell. The church remains a familiar part of Jamestown’s worship life, and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod church locator lists Wednesday worship there at 7 p.m. That same Lutheran connection also ran through her education, since she attended Concordia College in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for teaching, and Concordia University Ann Arbor identifies itself as affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Eppen was also preceded in death by her brother Robert Erfourth and her parents, Ernest H. Erfourth and Margie D. Erfourth. For Jamestown, her death leaves behind a clear portrait of a woman whose adult life was anchored in marriage, children, grandchildren and church, with her final service bringing those ties back into the heart of the local faith community.
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