Linda Kesselring

Linda Joy Kesselring was born in Libby, MT July 10th, 1947 – Mom really loved the Lord with all of her heart and went to be in His arms with all of her loved ones who have already passed, on July 29th, 2026 at 7:05pm in the arms of her loving daughter Angie.

Survived by her son Jeff (Joni) Lee Mullen, daughter Angie Lynn Mullen, son Nicolas Michael Kesselring, grandson Asa Nicolas Kesselring, sister Janet, and John Deleo and family, half-brother David and half -sister Kathy Niemann.

Proceeded in death by her beloved husband Michael Asa Kesselring, mother Arlene (Guido) Vial, father Fred (Velma) Niemann, and her grandparents Carl and Hazel Laffoon.

Along with the survived, she has at home with Nick 5 very loved and spoiled kitties: Ceasar Peezer, Ivy, Jammies, Whisp and Raspy.

Mom's home church: Harrison Bible Church in Harrison Nebraska, where she was very active and was always able and happy to provide those sweet treats for the lunch dinners after every Sunday's service.

Mom was Sr. Prom Queen in high school in Troy, MT, then as soon as she turned 18 and she graduated, she got married to Robert Mullen on June 14th 1965. Together they built their business Treasure Lake Taxidermy from March 15th 1969 while mom stayed in Troy in town living with Grandma Hazel while it was being built. Mom's job during those years was: rug sewer for all of the taxidermy, mostly bears and some lions and different wild cats, etc. As time went on, they separated then met Mike Kesselring in 1976 while working at the Silver Spur Bar in Troy. While working that night, she went up to kiss him for New Years Eve at midnight and never looked back.

Got married to Michael Asa Kesselring on Sept 27th, 1977 in the front yard of our house on Millner's Lake outside of Troy.

Moved with the family to Custer, SD for a few short years then briefly back to Troy, and finally settling in Blue Earth MN one mile outside of Guckeen in 1984.

While in MN she owned and ran the Huntly Café, did a short stint in a factory in Blue Earth, did some bookkeeping for a feed company outside of the town Winnebago, and lastly, she worked at the Makotah Vet Center as a bookkeeper for quite a few years before moving to Nebraska.

After Nick graduated high school in 1998, mom and dad moved to Our Heritage Ranch-House to stay a couple years as they began building their new log home and very famously well-known business High Plains Homestead in 1998 out in the hills, windy roads and badlands of Crawford. They were considered the most popular tourist location in Nebraska known all over the United States, not to mention also... out of country; for their bed and breakfast and the very popular Drifter Cookshack! The Drifter Cookshack was frequently in the Nebraska papers, advertised on the radio and even got a spot on the well-known TV television network: The Cooking Channel. They got the Henry Fonda Award for the Cookshack and were in the Nebraska Land Magazine (as they brought back the "Coffee Burger" again!)

The weekends were always extremely busy because those were the steak and rib nights. Mom was definitely the backbone of every aspect: Cook, Bookkeeper, Server, cleaned all the guest rooms, doing all the laundry, and last but definitely not least... baking all of her very famous pies (especially that wonderful apple pie that never lasted long at all, and was the first to go to those very lucky enough to get there first!) They raised buffalo to have for the cookshack season each year and made plenty of huge shopping trips to Rapid City to get stocked up all the time for it. I even remember at one point mom had a baby black and white pigmy goat just for fun at High Plains, but that darn thing was ornery. There were always cats running around all over the place trying to get the attention of whoever would give it to them. Mom enjoyed visiting people who came in from all over the country and beyond that, who stayed in one of the bunk rooms or just came out for one of their dinners at the cookshack. She just really enjoyed meeting the people and visiting with them, she was very social, always from day one and was quite the people person whom everyone just loved, and who was always kind to each and every person. Everyone absolutely loved her!

In May of 2019 they sold the cookshack and moved to Harrison Nebraska and rented a house for 2 years while simultaneously building our beautiful home we are very blessed to have now, and their own Storage Units business just a few short blocks down the road called Badlands Storage. After a few years they sold Badlands Storage and mom retired, while dad kept a job at the radio station in Chadron Nebraska: KCSR/KBPY where she would on occasion be a voice and help him do his commercials over the radio.

Mom's hobbies: She loved singing all of those beautiful hymns in church every Sunday, socializing with all of her dearly loved friends and family, (especially her beautiful baby grandson Asa on their frequent video calls), crafting, making her weed arrangements with her dried flowers, painting, sewing, gardening, canning, baking and just loved the outdoors, sitting outside in her cozy little rocker on the front porch, watching all the traffic drive by and watching her cute little Bonnie & Clyde squirrels run around, tanning in the sunshine, and even back in the day when possible… in her tube-tops!

Oh… and lastly let's not forget, (since she loved typing ever since her school days), mom had her very proudful glow of achievement as she would often tell me of her being the Miss Speedy that she was, and was able to type her 72 words per minute!! As I was sitting at my desk ready for work, she would frequently tell this when I was putting my headset on every day, and I’d say, “Mom I gotta get to workin’ now,” so then I could get signed in in the next two minutes, (because I always waited until the very last moments to spend my time on the phone with her). With the biggest smile on her face, she would then say to me and impersonate Lily Tomlin saying, “One Ringy-Dingy, Two Ringy-dingy” from the old TV show Laugh-In and we’d giggle over that.

I’d tell her every day before we hung up… YOU’RE MY #1 MOM, I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH, and I’LL CALL TO YOU AGAIN SOON, IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE!