Irvin O. Espeseth, 86, of Parsons, entered heaven at 7:20 p.m., Friday, April 10, 2020 at the Good Samaritan Society in Parsons.
He was born June 27, 1933, at Barron, WI, to Andrew O. and Cora (Greeley) Espeseth. He graduated from Barron, Wisconsin High School, North Central Bible College in 1955 and L.I.F.E. Bible College in 1956, where he received his master’s degree.
Irv and Florence Cole were married August 20, 1955 at Pillager, Minnesota. After their marriage they pastored several churches in the upper Midwest. After studying Spanish at Thunderbird College in Glendale, AR they were appointed missionaries to San Cristobal, Venezuela in 1966.
In 1968 Irv was appointed to supervise the Foursquare Gospel churches in Guatemala and establish new churches. During their time of ministry there, Guatemala experienced a 7.5 earthquake which left 25,000 people dead and 75,000 injured. Ten Foursquare Churches were destroyed. Irv and Florence walked miles carrying food to villages and Irv carried hundreds of bags of cement to help rebuild the churches. This disaster resulted in thousands of people turning to Christ. While in Guatemala Irvin and Florence adopted their son, David.
In 1978 Irv and Florence returned to the States and pastored the church in Chicago Heights, IL and Irv also administered a Christian Day school which was part of the church.
In 1982, Irv, Florence and David moved to Parsons to become the pastors of the Foursquare Church which was located at 1800 Crawford. The congregation soon outgrew those facilities and they purchased the land east of Parsons and there, under Irvin’s supervision, built the facility that houses the Foursquare Church on East Main.
How do you condense 60 years of ministry to just a few paragraphs? Whatever Irv did, he always did with his whole heart, serving the Lord, serving the church, serving people. He enjoyed gardening, hunting deer, fishing and woodworking. He was a former member of the Lions Club.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Andrew and Cora Espeseth, two brothers, Alan of Barron, WI and Carlton of Farmington, MN.
Surviving is his wife, Florence; son, David, granddaughters Maya Marie and Jasmine Joy, all of Parsons. His granddaughters were the joy of his life and always brought huge smiles to his face. He is also survived by brothers, Wayne Espeseth (Janet), Byron Espeseth and Gale Espeseth (Roxanne); two sisters-in-law, Marlene Espeseth and Judy Espeseth, all living in Wisconsin.
Because of the current gathering restrictions, a private graveside service will be at Oakwood Cemetery Thursday morning. The procession will drive through the Foursquare Church parking lot at approximately 10:45 a.m., Thursday. Friends are welcome to park there to honor Irv.
Friends may call at the Carson-Wall Funeral Home to sign the register from 10 a.m., to 6 p.m., Wednesday.
Memorials are suggested to Guatemala Missions. Checks should be made to Florence Espeseth and the donations will be divided among several missions. They may be left at or sent to the funeral home at Box 942, Parsons, KS 67357. Online messages may be left at www.wallfuneralservices.com.
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