Hi, List...I am hoping to find descendants of this family. See the descending order below. They started out in Mills, Co., Iowa and migrated to Monona Co. Iowa..and then Colorado...and some of them eventually reached California. Solomon Thomas Kesterson m. Sarah Emma Rains (They had several children.including this son:) William Nathan Kesterson m. Rose Eva Wood, 25 Apr 1880 Monona Co. IA (I am helping a researcher with LA Police Dept. in trying to find any descendants of this William Nathan Kesterson. This is quite the story. We are most interested in the son: ) Walter Henry Kesterson...who married in CA but had no children. Walter H. Kesterson died 4 Feb 1946 - in a gunfight with bank robbers in LA. Walter was an officer on the LA police force. He died during the line of duty and before he died he managed to make sure the two robber suspects were brought down by his bullets. We are hoping to find descendants of some of Walter's siblings. In my research this weekend it appears that some of those siblings stayed in Iowa. Mostly Walter had sisters...but there was one brother, William Edward Kesterson who married a Mabel Davis..(this line may have stayed in Iowa.) They had two children that I have found: Willie and a daughter, Rosie. I have searched tons of census records going back several generations. It is not the old generation we need. We are looking for descendants of the living generations of the siblings of Walter H. Kesterson, since he had no children. And here is why..I quote from the query that I received: "Walter Kesterson paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting the citizens of Los Angeles and it would be fantastic if we could pay homage to that and reward his family with a small token of that appreciation, the Medal of Valor." The LAPD wants to do this and will, but they hope to find a living descendant of the line to receive it. The entire email that I received is extremely interesting. Please advise if any of you have any knowledge of this family. You are much appreciated! Linda Ziemann Iowa GenWeb County Coordinator, Plymouth, Monona, Sioux counties http://www.iagenweb.org Iowa Old Press IAGenWeb Special Project Co-coordinator http://www.iowaoldpress.com/index.html "A Look Back at the Lives and Times of Our Ancestors"

I want to share with all of you that living relatives of police officer Walter H. Kesterson, LAPD, have been found. I did research this past weekend online. I came up with the KESTERSON'S as they moved from Monona Co., Iowa, to Mesa Co., Colorado....and then California. I used my online genealogy membership and traced the family using the Federal Census records. I also looked through the free genealogy websites. I found several "posts" regarding the family line of this Walter H. Kesterson. I emailed the recent posts--and held my breath--hoping to hear back. And HEAR BACK, I did. I got replies from all four and was able to determine which of the four was the closest living relative to the officer. Meantime throughout the weekend, the police Lt. in California was emailing me again. So it was quite the weekend, filled with the excitement of the HUNT FOR A FAMILY MEMBER TO RECEIVE THIS OFFICER'S "MEDAL OF VALOR." I was able to locate a grandson of one of Walter Kesterson's younger sisters. This man is in his late 70's, and is thrilled with this news. My first contact was with this older man's son and wife in Colorado. This couple was one of the recent "posts" that I had found. Fantastic...they are interested in "family history" and they are ecstatic over this story about their Grand Uncle!! I just received word that the Lt. in California called the family today. Here is in part what was said to me in the email. "Linda, Just thought I would let you know that Lt. called my husband today and had a nice long conversation. My husband gave the Lt. his Dad's telephone number so I am anxious to find out if they talked today too. Anyway, things are going along, so maybe a family representative will be there to get the medal in April. Will let you know." The award ceremony is in April......and I am thrilled to have been a part of linking this family to the LAPD so that the Medal of Valor can be presented to Walter H. Kesterson's family. They are very proud.......and so am I !! Linda Ziemann Iowa GenWeb County Coordinator, Plymouth, Monona, Sioux counties http://www.iagenweb.org Iowa Old Press IAGenWeb Special Project Co-coordinator http://www.iowaoldpress.com/index.html "A Look Back at the Lives and Times of Our Ancestors" -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Linda Ziemann Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 9:05 AM To: IOWA Subject: [IOWA] Kesterson Surname--Medal of Valor award Hi, List...I am hoping to find descendants of this family. See the descending order below. They started out in Mills, Co., Iowa and migrated to Monona Co. Iowa..and then Colorado...and some of them eventually reached California. Solomon Thomas Kesterson m. Sarah Emma Rains (They had several children.including this son:) William Nathan Kesterson m. Rose Eva Wood, 25 Apr 1880 Monona Co. IA (I am helping a researcher with LA Police Dept. in trying to find any descendants of this William Nathan Kesterson. This is quite the story. We are most interested in the son: ) Walter Henry Kesterson...who married in CA but had no children. Walter H. Kesterson died 4 Feb 1946 - in a gunfight with bank robbers in LA. Walter was an officer on the LA police force. He died during the line of duty and before he died he managed to make sure the two robber suspects were brought down by his bullets. We are hoping to find descendants of some of Walter's siblings. In my research this weekend it appears that some of those siblings stayed in Iowa. Mostly Walter had sisters...but there was one brother, William Edward Kesterson who married a Mabel Davis..(this line may have stayed in Iowa.) They had two children that I have found: Willie and a daughter, Rosie. I have searched tons of census records going back several generations. It is not the old generation we need. We are looking for descendants of the living generations of the siblings of Walter H. Kesterson, since he had no children. And here is why..I quote from the query that I received: "Walter Kesterson paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting the citizens of Los Angeles and it would be fantastic if we could pay homage to that and reward his family with a small token of that appreciation, the Medal of Valor." The LAPD wants to do this and will, but they hope to find a living descendant of the line to receive it. The entire email that I received is extremely interesting. Please advise if any of you have any knowledge of this family. You are much appreciated! Linda Ziemann Iowa GenWeb County Coordinator, Plymouth, Monona, Sioux counties http://www.iagenweb.org Iowa Old Press IAGenWeb Special Project Co-coordinator http://www.iowaoldpress.com/index.html "A Look Back at the Lives and Times of Our Ancestors" _____________________________________________ For additional information concerning how the list works, how to sub and unsub and list rules, visit http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~richard/ialist/ _____________________________________________ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message