Belgrade woman dies in water skiing accident

By JODI HAUSEN Chronicle Staff Writer

A Belgrade woman died Sunday when she was unable to negotiate a turn while water skiing on Ennis Lake and crashed into shore side rocks, Madison County Sheriff Dave Schenk said Wednesday.

Phyllis A. Kessler, 53, died of blunt force trauma to the head and upper torso at Madison Valley Hospital after sustaining broken ribs and multiple internal injuries when the accident occurred around 7:15 p.m., Schenk said. She was taken to the hospital by Ennis Ambulance.

Kessler, wife of Fred Kessler for 31 years, had worked alongside him at their business, Kessler Dairy Supply. The eldest daughter of George and Thressa Kingma, Phyllis grew up in Bozeman in Baxter Meadows, George Kingma said Wednesday. She was a graduate of Manhattan Christian School and “was talented in many ways - she was a great (seamstress), a great artist and a great daughter,” Kingma said.

According to her obituary, Phyllis Kessler was active in her church, Bozeman Christian Reformed Church, where she taught Sunday school, led craft lessons and hosted Bible studies. She also volunteered with Love in the Name of Christ.

“It was tough to take; it still is,” Kingma said. “She was an awful good skier. She’d made that trip hundreds of times. We don’t know why … it was just devastating. We just have great faith that the Lord decided that it was her time to come home.”

Sister-in-law Judy Kingma agreed.

“God took her while she was doing what she loved,” she said.

Schenk said the boat towing Kessler was traveling in the channel in the direction of the power plant and dam and that when it approached the restricted area, the driver began to turn around but there wasn’t enough room for the arc of the skier, causing her to hit the rocky shoreline. He did not have any information about how fast the boat was traveling at the time.

But “there didn’t seem to be any negligence,” Schenk said.

Judy Kingma said the people who helped in Madison County and at the lake were “phenomenal.”

“We just want to thank them over a thousand times,” she said. “We’re so grateful and thankful. I wish I could thank them all personally.”

Visitation will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Bozeman Christian Reformed Church, 324 N. Fifth Ave.

Jodi Hausen can be reached at jhausen@dailychronicle.com or 582-2630.

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