Esther Nouwens
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- Created on Thursday, 10 November 2016 11:56
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Esther Nouwens
Former Sitka resident Esther Nouwens passed away on Oct. 20, 2016, from complications following a car crash on Sept. 30 in Coos Bay, Ore.
She died at the River Bend Medical Center in Springfield, Ore., surrounded by her husband, Bob, and her three daughters, Joni Middleton, Saundra Middleton, and Kim Middleton.
She was 82.
Esther was born in Wheatland, Wyoming, on Oct. 26, 1934, the daughter of Ralph and Hulda (Hokanson) Ewing.
She came to Sitka in 1960, where she worked for attorneys Bill Babcock then Pete Hallgren.
She and husband Bob left Sitka in the mid 1980s, living first in Leavenworth, Wash. At the time of her death they were living in Port Orford, Ore.
Esther loved to sing in the church choir of First Presbyterian Church (Bandon, Ore.), collect spoons and dolls, read mystery novels, put together jigsaw puzzles, and go on road trips with an imaginary credit card to buy any beautiful houses along the way.
She was president of the Sitka chapter of the ACCA and worked at Alaska Lumber and Pulp Mill. She was a very strong and energetic woman who, in her 40s, gave up a life working in offices to shoveling wood chips in the ALP yard.
She was loved for her sunny disposition, and will be dearly missed by her family and friends.
As her husband stated, “The passing of my Darling Woman leaves an empty space not easily breached.”
Esther is survived by her three daughters, Joni Middleton of Paris, France, Saundra Middleton of Anchorage, and Kim Middleton of Eastsound, Wash.; her stepdaughter, Karen (Nouwens) Marquis; and a tree full of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Esther is also survived by her sister, Loretta (Ewing) Ham, brothers Robert and Daniel Ewing and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her son, Stephen Middleton, her parents, a sister Hazel Ewing, and two brothers Richard and Floyd Ewing.
The cremation was handled by Sunset Hills Mortuary in Springfield, Ore. The family will hold a memorial service at a later date.
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20 YEARS AGO
November 2004
Street Names, by Bob DeArmond: Furuhelm Street, just east of Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School, from Kimsham to Kashevaroff streets, was named, with modified spelling, for the 13th and next to last chief manager of the Russian American Company. He is one of the four chief managers for whom Sitka streets have been named.
50 YEARS AGO
November 1974
Arrowhead Lions will put on a dance Saturday for funds to buy Universal Gym Equipment for Sitka High gym classes. Lions Club President Roger Howard will donate his band, “The Tequila Sunrise,” for starting of the fund raising. The equipments costs an estimated $4,000.
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