Esther Rachel Evans (Gillenwater) died at home Monday, April 12, 2010.
She was born in Mitchell, Oregon to Ethel Payne Gillenwater and Orville Gillenwater. When Esther was three, the family moved to Yakima where her father established orchards in the Gromore area.
Esther attended Willow Lawn Grade School and graduated from Yakima High School. She met her future husband, Donald at a school dance where he and his three piece band were playing. They married on October 17, 1935 and settled in Yakima where they remained until 1952.
Donald’s interest in photography took them to Santa Barbara, California where he studied at Brooks Institute of Photography and onto San Luis Obispo, CA. They returned to Yakima where their daughters graduated from high school. Donald and Esther then moved to Honolulu, Hawaii and eventually returned to the Northwest settling in Portland, Oregon. They spent many happy years together in Portland and, after Donald’s death in 1977, Esther remained there until 2003 when she returned to Yakima to spend her remaining years.
Esther was totally committed to being a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She gladly fulfilled her role as a homemaker and also at various times as a physician’s assistant. Upon retirement, she enjoyed recreational ballroom dancing in Oregon and Washington.
Esther was preceded in death by her husband, Donald; brother, Wilson Gillenwater and sister, Helen Evans. She is survived by her daughters, Marilyn Burnam (Leon) and Laurel Loss (Tom); three grandchildren, Mike Burnam, Lisa Mark and Laurel Buchanan; four great-grandchildren and various nieces, nephews and cousins and many friends.
Inurnment will be at Terrace Heights Memorial Park. A Memorial Service is Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. at the Keith & Keith Terrace Heights Chapel with a reception following. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.
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