Feb 1, 2025
-Submitted photo
Kersten reunion in June 2024. Front row, from left: Steve Kersten, Kathy Kersten Johnson, Marylee Kersten, Laurie Kersten Fisher, Terry Kersten, Monty Kersten, Carol Kersten, Dr. Bob Kersten. Second row, from left: Anne Kersten, Margo McCarthy, Margie Kersten, Joanne Kersten Hudson, Kathy Roethler, Amy Kersten Bruno, Mary Kersten Crandall, Jim Kersten.
It has been 35 years since you could say, “There’s a Dr. Kersten in the house.”
Back in 1990, Dr. Herb Kersten retired from Fort Dodge’s Kersten Clinic, which was formed by him and his two brothers, Paul and John, and their father, E.M. Kersten. His retirement ended 74 years of medical care from the Kersten doctors to the people of Fort Dodge.
But while those four founders of the multi-practice clinic are now deceased, the Kersten name is very much alive in the form of 18 members of the third Kersten generation – four of whom live in Fort Dodge and the others scattered through the United States and even in Hong Kong. Not to mention 54 of their grandchildren and 69 of their great grandchildren.
There is among them one “doctor in the house” – Dr. Bob Kersten, an opthamologist who practices in Salt Lake City. And there are five attorneys among them, following in the footsteps of Paul and John’s brother Don.
Through thick and thin, theirs has been and is a closeknit family, as illustrated by how its members reacted when three of the cousins encountered tragedies.
Amy Kersten Bruno, daughter of Dr. Paul Kersten and his wife Nick, explains:
“I think what strikes me the most is how every single cousin is available for any of the other cousins in need. I remember when my husband, Mike, was injured in tornado in South Bend, Indiana, and ultimately, died (in 2001) from his injuries. Every single cousin asked how they could help – my brothers and sister came to be with my kids and me, Bob Kersten and his family came to be with us and help navigate the new course we were finding ourselves in, other cousins visited us in the hospital – Kathleen Kersten Roethler sent me cards almost every single week for a number of years, just so i knew she was thinking of us and was ‘in our corner’. i still had five children to raise – It was such a source of strength for all of us to keep moving forward. I knew, without a doubt, that if we needed anything, that they would all help us. It was such a safe and comforting feeling.
“This was also apparent when our cousin Margo (daughter of Frances Anne Kersten and her husband Bill Wolf) suffered the horrendous 4th of July Parade mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, in 2022. She lost her son Kevin and his wife (who left a 2-year-old son whose life was saved by his father covering him). Margo was also shot. Our cousins rallied from the minute we heard the news. The difficult new world she and her grandson are now navigating was foreign and almost impossible. The cousins came to Margo’s side, talked with her, are helping her as she figures out her new reality, and basically, just being kind constants in her life. And Margo is quite amazing – so strong and steadfast – what a thing to have to even happen to you. Just awful beyond words.
“The bottom line is that I think we all believe that at any time, in any situation, we could call each other for advice, for support, as sounding boards – and each cousin would do their absolute best to help. It’s pretty special.”
These thoughts are echoed by Kathy Kersten Roethler of Emmetsburg, recalling when her husband Bob Roethler suffered a brain aneurysm followed by a stroke. His long career as a wrestling coach included coaching at St. Edmond High School from 1967 to 1972; he is a member of the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“The Kersten family has always been a very tight knit group,” she said. “And when
there is a tragedy we all come together. In 1978, my husband, Bob Roethler, suffered a brain aneurysm followed by a stroke. He was in Rochester for 3 1/2 months. Since my parents were overseas in the Holy Land, the aunts and uncles rallied. My Aunt Jeanne went to Rochester with me. My sister, Marylee, and my aunt and uncle, Cece and Herb, took care of my son, Robert, who was 2 1/2 at the time. Robert also spent time with my Aunt Merope and Uncle Don. While in Rochester, Bob had many family members visit. When Bob went to rehab, I stayed in Fort Dodge with my parents. During Bob’s stay in Rochester, and after, it was like circling the wagons around Bob. He was never a victim and the family
supported his ‘never give up’ attitude until the day he died (in 2015). Family is
everything!”
The Kersten name has been a prominent part of Fort Dodge history since Dr. E.M. Kersten, son of an immigrant pioneer doctor from Wisconsin, moved to the city in 1916 to join Dr. F.E. Seymour in a medical practice.
E.M. and his wife Anne gave birth to five children, born at Lutheran Hospital which he helped form in 1932 and is now known as UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center.
The five – Paul, Herb, John, Don and Frances Anne – brought 19 children into the world, and today they range in age from 75 years old (Kathleen Kersten Roethler) to 59 (Margie Kersten):
Children of Dr. Paul and Nick Kersten
Paul Kersten, deceased, an Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War and later was a professional pilot and outdoorsman who loved to fish and hunt. The oldest of the 19, he died of stroke in 2013.
Kathleen Kersten Roethler, Emmetsburg: Office manager for Smarts Broadcast Systems of Emmetsburg for 40 years.
Tom Kersten, Hong Kong: Businessman and real estate investor.
Marylee Kersten, Omaha: youth services support coordinator, Boys Town.
Children of Dr. Herb and Cece Kirsten
Amy Kersten Bruno, Highland Park, Ill.: Small Business Owner/Entrepreneur. Has served as director of community development for Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance and as executive director of Fort Dodge Area Chamber of Commerce.
Ernie Kersten, Fort Dodge: attorney.
Joanne Kersten Hudson, Winnetka, Ill.: Residential Real Estate. Former co-owner of The Hudson Company which she and her husband sold to COMPASS in 2018. Twin to Jim Kersten.
Jim Kersten, Fort Dodge: Vice President, External Relations and Government Affairs, Iowa Central Community College. President, Golden Dome Strategies, LLC, a consulting company. Former state senator. Twin to Joanne Kersten.
Children of Dr. John and Jeanne Kersten
Dr. Bob Kersten, Salt Lake City: MD Ophthalmologist. Practiced in Saudi Arabia, Cincinnati, San Francisco and now Salt Lake City. Oculoplastic surgeon and professor at the University of Utah Medical School.
Kathy Kersten, Minneapolis: Attorney. Senior Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment, a state-based public policy institution, Former columnist for the Star Tribune newspaper.
Monty Kersten, Los Gatos, Calif.: Attorney and high tech entrepreneur.
Terry Kersten, Los Altos, Calif.: Consumer marketing at tech companies including Apple, Intuit, Adobe, and, most recently, LinkedIn. Now teaches courses on leadership and serves as a leadership coach in her company “Lead By Values.”
Carol Kersten, Palo Alto, Calif.: Attorney. Does planned-giving fundraising for medical research at Stanford University, working with donors who want to include medical research in their estate plans and assisting with outright gifts as well.
Laurie Kersten, Nanaimo, British Columbia: Worked as a qualitative marketing researcher and ideation (brainstorming) facilitator, first at advertising agencies, then at a company called “Ideas To Go”, and then as a freelance moderator.
Children of Don and Merope Kersten
Anne Kersten, Fort Dodge: Editor of Fort Dodge Today magazine. Founded Twist and Shout magazine and online site (with Dave Haldin) and served as editor for 20 years.
Mary Kersten Crandall, Cedar Rapids: Taught high school students in Cedar Rapids with behavior disabilities for eight years and then students with learning disabilities, and finished her career as a Special Ed Consultant.
Steve Kersten, Fort Dodge: Attorney who practiced law for 41 years until retiring. Serves as Magistrate Judge for Webster County.
Margie Kersten, Woodstock, Ill.: Associate Director/Learning Consultant at Ernst & Young. Has been working in Learning & Development (corporate training) for her entire career and has been at Ernst & Young for the past 21 years. Also teaches part-time at the local community college.
Daughter of Bill and Frances Anne Kersten Wolf
Margo (Wolf) McCarthy, Vernon Hills, Ill.: Retired from many years as a commercial insurance broker. Only one of the “original 19” first cousins not to live or grow up in Fort Dodge.
Most of the Kersten cousins attended Fort Dodge Senior High. Three of Don Kersten’s older children – Anne, Mary and Steve – went to St. Edmond High School and his youngest, Margie, started there but later transferred to FDSH.
“Back in those days” Joanne Kersten Hudson recalled, “the students who were in your home room in junior high and high school were determined by alphabetical order of last name, so I was in the same home room with my twin brother Jim and cousin Laurie for 6 years. It was a nice way to start each day.”
Kathy Kersten said it was only after leaving Fort Dodge that “I came to realize what a fine education I had received in the Fort Dodge public schools. I owe my writing career–as a columnist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and a policy analyst at Center of the American Experiment–to outstanding English teachers like Esther Jones at North Junior High and Judy Duncan at Fort Dodge High.”
What was it like to grow up a Kersten in Fort Dodge?
Terry Kersten responded, “Whether you were walking through downtown or out at the shopping center, you’d often meet someone who’d ask, ‘Are you a Kersten?’ given the similarity in family looks. People would then ask which family you belonged to: Was it Dr John or Dr Paul? While I was working at K-Mart in high school, someone recognized me as a Kersten and said how much he appreciated Grandfather Ernie making house calls when babies were due and remembered paying for medical services with a chicken pot pie during the Depression. It was wonderful to feel part of such a close and connected family and I am grateful that we cousins continue getting together regularly.”
Laurie Kersten: “For me, being a Kersten in Fort Dodge meant that I had so many siblings and cousins to connect with throughout my childhood and beyond. It has been such a feeling of support!”
And favorite memories of those growing-up years?
Mary Kersten Crandall: “Dancing at the Playmor every weekend, going into the record shop on Central and getting into those little booths to listen to 45s, sliding in Crawford Park, riding my bike all over town, to name just a few.”
Margie Kersten: “Spending time playing outside with neighborhood kids. We spent a lot of time in Crawford Park. It was the era of ‘come home when the street lights turn on.’
Amy Kersten Bruno: “I think the best part was that it was such a true Americana. It had a Norman Rockwell and an ‘Our Town’ feeling. That everything mattered but that we just didn’t make a big deal about things. One of my favorite memories of living in Fort Dodge was how we could walk all over town, ride our bikes anywhere and everywhere, and we were safe. And – that we had the freedom to do so.”
Joanne Kersten Hudson: “Some of my earliest and favorite childhood memories were at my family home. My dad built a backstop and a baseball diamond with bases in our yard and would pitch to us after dinner at dinner. When we were very little there was a fair amount of ‘Strike two and one half’ then ‘Strike two and two thirds’ until we were able to make contact. The first time our neighbor, Richard Loomis, made contact with the ball he dropped the bat, ran to first and then continued straight ahead to his home yelling, ‘Mom! I hit it! I hit it!’. My dad loved telling that story.”
Jim Kersten: “Having a safe community, great education, very good friends, and family. Favorite family memories include celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas together, playing fun games with the uncles and being able to help our dad at his farm during the weekends and summers. And, of course, watching U of Iowa and Notre Dame football games! It has also been rewarding to help Fort Dodge, Iowa Central and Iowa grow and create good-paying skilled jobs.”
Carol Kersten: “At the annual Thanksgiving gathering (that we John Kerstens hosted most years) my dad would offer words of thanks for all of us before the meal. Key in his remarks was to remember that our great good fortune to be born in the US instead of, e.g., a developing country, was not because of our merit, but because of chance and luck. In essence, although I don’t think he used these words: there but for the grace of God go I. This has helped shape my view of refugees and immigration.”
Margo (Wolf) McCarthy: “I was the only one of the ‘Original 19’ first cousins not to live or grow up in Fort Dodge. But we did visit often, and as an only child, it was always so amazing to have cousin/playmates across the street and down the block, as well as within walking and biking distance. Looking back, now as a grandmother living in the suburban Chicago area, I’m struck by the simplicity, ease and freedom of growing up in that small town in the 50s and 60s, where we walked, ran and biked everywhere.”
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