Esther Christine Anderson Cragg

With a deep sense of loss the family of Esther Christine Anderson Cragg announces her passing peacefully at Westhills Village Health Care in Rapid City, SD on July 3, 2026, at age 100.

She was born on April 1, 1926 in Hot Springs SD, to Swedish immigrant Albert Anderson and Chicago-born Hannah Anderson. As a child of the depression, Esther grew up in extreme poverty. But with an adventurous spirit, she fell in love with the lush pines and the granite rocks of the Black Hills. She lived with her parents and her brother, Paul Anderson, in a small home in Sanitor, just south of Custer, where her father worked at the tuberculosis hospital there. After her father’s passing, the family moved to Rapid City where Esther attended Rapid City High School. As a teenager, Esther drove to the west coast with her mother and a cousin to start a new life in Los Angeles. She attended and graduated from a small Christian college prep school called Culter Academy.

Esther was beautiful, kind, adventurous and smart. As a teen when Esther was enjoying a church picnic on the beach she met a handsome young sailor, Kenneth Cragg. They later wrote a poem about the occasion, starting with, "It all began at a marshmallow feed when I fell in love with that little ol' Swede.” Two years later they were married on March 31, 1946, and enjoyed 64 years of life together until Kenn's passing on June 25, 2010. Esther was devoted to Kenn, and devoted to his calling as a pastor, serving God and the church right by his side. She saw this as her calling too.

Esther is survived by two children, Stephen and Sylvia, daughter-in-law Ryanne Kim, son-in-law Patrick McGuire, two grandchildren Micah and Shannon, and four great grandchildren, Nayeli, Isla, Tristan and Genevieve.

Esther always had a venturesome spirit. She learned to swim with her children when she was in her 30's, and enjoyed bike riding and hiking, and traveling military transport “space-available” up to Alaska. She taught both of her children how to drive on the back roads in the Black Hills. One night she and Stephen got lost somewhere behind Pactola Lake. After a frantic night of searching, they were found in the morning, hiking out on a narrow muddy road.

She loved art, design and music, and was always able to create something beautiful out of the simplest things in nature. In the 1960's, when she and Kenn served at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rapid City, she earned her Associate of Arts degree and began her work at the Sioux Sanitorium for tuberculosis as an occupational therapist. They moved on to Bakersfield, California, where she was the occupational therapist on the county hospital psychiatric ward.

The love of her life was Kenn, but the foundation of her life was her faith. She was a devoted follower of Jesus and was baptized in Canyon Lake as a teen. Her church family in Rapid City was Westminster Presbyterian, where Kenn served as pastor in the 1960’s, and again as pastor of visitation after his retirement. This love for God has carried her through some of the most challenging years of her life, after her beloved Kenn passed in 2010. She touched the hearts of all she met. She would talk about how blessed she was, and at Westhills Village Health Care her nurses have often said that they were so thankful for her and all that she gave them. She was a conduit of love, and often shared songs and Bible verses with them. In her final days members of the staff came to her room, often in tears, to say their goodbyes and tell her how much they loved her. She was family to them.

Esther’s Viewing and Visitation will be on Tuesday, July 7, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at Osheim and Schmidt Funeral Home in Rapid City. Her funeral will be at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, followed by a reception.

For those wishing to make a donation in Memory of Esther Cragg, the family suggests:

The Cornerstone Rescue Mission; 401-11th Street, Rapid City, SD 57701 or online at Cornerstonemission.org 

or

Wycliffe Bible Translation Foundation, Inc; P.O. Box 620486, Orlando, FL 32862 or online at Wycliffefoundation.org