Lois Rita Kester

August 24, 1920 – April 30, 2023

On August 24, 1920, Otto and Florence Wolf welcomed their third daughter, Lois Rita, into their lives. Lois joined her parents and sisters, Bernice and Dolores, in the family's small three room house near St. Clare Parish in SW Portland. At an early age, Lois participated in the simple activities focused on faith, family, friends, and music. She learned to sing and play the piano and organ, all passions she carried throughout her life. In grade school she began to play the organ at Mass and was regularly called upon to perform for her parents' friends and relatives. On her ninth birthday she received a used piano that she continued to play until early 2023.

After Lois' graduation from St. Mary's Academy in 1938, she sang in the Portland Philharmonic Choir and worked in the music department at Meier & Frank demonstrating sheet music for the piano to customers. Musicians, who traveled to Portland for concerts would often stop by the store, which Lois found exciting. She liked to tell about meeting Duke Ellington and other musicians of the era.

In 1951, while working as a teller at US Bank, Lois met Robert Kester, an auditor for the bank. They married that summer and Lois began her life as a homemaker. They moved, with their three children, to Milwaukie in 1961 and became members of St. John the Baptist Parish. She played organ at Mass and also played organ and piano for weddings and funerals, using her earnings to put her children through Catholic school. She became active in various volunteer activities through the Church and taught her children about volunteerism by taking them with her to visit in a local nursing home.

After Bob’s retirement in 1980, they bought a home with a small acreage where Bob grew vegetables and Lois tended to her flowers. They enjoyed traveling the United States and the world. Their family marveled at the world map that hung in their hallway with pins marking all the places they had visited.

Lois remained active in the church, assisting at daily Mass and heading up the homebound ministry at St. Edward’s Parish until she was 87 years old. After Bob's death in 2007, Lois returned to Portland where she became a member of The Madeleine Parish.

Lois passed away peacefully on April 30, 2023, just four months shy of her 103rd birthday.

Lois is survived by her children and their spouses, Rita (Danny) of Rio Rico Az., Paul (Kathy) of Portland, and Scott (Rita) of Silverton, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

We will miss her tremendously and will hold her forever in our hearts.

Recitation of the Rosary will be held at 10:30 AM, followed by a Funeral Mass at 11AM Friday, May 19 at The Madeleine Catholic Church, Portland.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Lois to Doctors Without Borders – USA, St. Mary’s Academy, Portland, or Tarahumara Childrens Hospital Fund of Oregon.