Esther Lerma de Castillo

Esther Lerma de Castillo was born in Julimes, Chihuahua, México on the 2nd of January, 1933, and passed away in her home in Denver, Colorado, on August 31, 2023, at the age of 90. For many years, she lived in Iliff, Colorado and Sterling, Colorado prior to moving to Denver, Colorado.

Esther was born into a very large family. She is survived by her loving husband, Jeronimo Castillo, and their daughters, Esther Castillo-Lerma and Obdulia Castillo-Lerma. Three other children predeceased her and she has 1 son, Trinidad Ortega. She has 20 grandchildren including Jael Rosales-Castillo, Austin Calder, Kiahna Calder, Amy Hall, Jenny Rodriguez, and Marcus Ortega. She has many great grandchildren including the newest member of the family, Nelani Rosales-Castillo.

She was the last surviving sibling of her family of 6 sisters (Genoveva, Dolores (Lola), Virginia, Chonome, Otilia) and 1 brother, Manuel. Her parents, Dolores Gomez de Lerma and Manuel Lerma Saenz predeceased her.

To her family, Esther was known as “Madre” in honor of her role as a grand woman, mother and grandmother. She was the central figure in the lives of her children and her husband of 52 years. Her greatest love was her family and her pets. There was never a stray cat that would go unfed. She absolutely loved her home, flowers and birds of all types. She was a folk artist and created many pictures of birds with big personalities and a variety of beautiful and colorful flowers.

In her prime, Esther was a very active woman in her community with the Catholic Church and at home with her family. There was never a day without prayer, a home cooked meal and always more than enough food even for the unexpected guests. She loved music, to dance and to laugh. She was a very beautiful woman who defied the laws of age and always looked at least 20 years younger.

The best way to describe “Madre” and the way the family chooses to honor her is through the beautiful poem “Woman,” Proverbs 31:10. Esther’s family invites you to join them in a High Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on Friday, 9/15 at 11 am and a Celebration of Life Ceremony immediately after Mass. She will be laid to rest at Olinger EastLawn Cemetery at 2:30 pm.

The family wishes to send a special thank you to the staff at Olinger Chapel Hill Funeral Home, Compassus Hospice Center for their care and compassion and to all of the family and friends who have shown incredible amounts of love and camaraderie during Esther’s lifetime and for the love and support to the family particularly during this difficult time of loss.

Your Hug Meant the World

Nobody else held me so tight

Or made me feel so right

No one’s eyes shined so bright with love

As my mom, who is now high above.

-Tamsen Butler