Hester Markham

Hester (Overturf) Markham (75 years resident of Mead, CO), born May 25, 1913 to Elbert Frank & Ethel (Craft) Overturf in Bird City, KS. Second of five daughters born to them. Passed from this life to join her husband Rodney W. Markham and the Lord on March 27, 2017 in Wheatridge, CO. She was just two months shy of her 104th birthday. Hester was a 1931 graduate of Bird City Kansas high school and graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS in 1935. She was a member of Delta Gamma sorority, and majored in history and elementary education. She taught elementary education in St. Francis, KS until 1937, when she moved to Colorado to be near her parents in Idaho Springs. She was accepted for a Colorado teaching certificate in 1937. That fall she became a teacher at Mead Consolidated School. She rented a room in Mead in the home of Effie Markham. It was here she met and fell in love with Effie's son, Rodney. They were married in Idaho Springs on May 28, 1939. They had been married just short of 57 years when he died in 1996. Hester put her teaching career on hold and raised six children until they were all in school. She then taught in Mead, Frederick and Longmont schools until her retirement from Columbine Elementary in Longmont in 1978. After her retirement, Hester and Rodney enjoyed traveling the country. Hester enjoyed china painting and quilting. She was a member of the Mead United Methodist Church. Hester was preceded in death by her parents, husband Rodney, son Charles F. Markham, daughter Sheryl Markham, grandson Alan Markham, and sisters Helen Darnell, Ruth Duvall and Beulah Casperson. She is survived by sons David (Donita) or Broomfield, Sidney (Charlotte) of Westminster, and daughters Janell of Golden and Margo (Ronald) Goodrick of Thornton, sister Fran Van Kuren of Fort Collins, plus 14 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, and five great great grandchildren. Funeral services to be held Friday, April 7 at 10:30 am at the Mead United Methodist Church, 501 Palmer Ave, Mead CO 80542. Viewing will be Thursday, April 6 from 4pm to 6pm at the Ahlberg funeral home, 326 Terry Street in Longmont. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Mead United Methodist Church in memory of Hester Markham.