Esther Putnam, age 72, of Mitchell died June 19, at the Avera Bormann Manor in Parkston. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church in Mitchell. Visitation will be from 6-8 PM Friday at the Will Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Artesian. Esther was born on August 16, 1933 in Woonsocket to Charles and Claribel (White) Wells. She graduated from Woonsocket High School in 1951. She married Maurice Putnam on Sept. 18, 1954, in Pipestone, Minnesota. They farmed near Carthage and later moved to Artesian and in 1962 they moved to Letcher. She graduated in 1981 from Mitchell Technical Institute for Accounting and worked for Jacks Campers and Wise Tire. She retired and worked part time for the Mitchell Sr. Center. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Mitchell and the Women of the Moose, She collected antiques and coins and enjoyed playing bridge. She is survived by her sons, Shawn Putnam and wife, Donna, Sioux Falls, Doug Putnam, Tea, SD and her daughter, Shelley and husband, Kevin Knutson, Letcher; six grandchildren; her mother, Claribel Feenstra, of Sioux Falls, brothers: Lyle (Carol) Wells, Artesian, Wallis (Cheryll) Wells, Belvidere, SD and sisters, Bonnie and husband, Roland Dant, Scandia, MN, Betty and husband Tom Wolterman, Lake Crystal, Minnesota, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Maurice in March, 1982; her father; son, Denny; grandson, Damien; and sisters, Rita Strand, and Darlene Dahl.