Esther Bingham Dies; Sitka Resident was 66
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- Category: Obituaries
- Created on Thursday, 28 December 2023 15:43
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Esther Ann Bingham passed away quietly on June 9, 2023, at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. She was 66.
Esther was born February 4, 1957, in Sitka, the second of three daughters born to Sylvia and Wallace Brizgaloff.
She was raised by her parents, Sylvia and Willis Osbakken in Sitka, along with her four siblings. She enjoyed playing cards, and board games and going on family outings on the boat for picnics, beach combing, and whale watching.
Esther attended Sitka High School and enjoyed being a member of the Drill Team.
After graduation she worked for Island Taxi, where she met her future husband, Jay Bingham. In January 1975, they were married at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea in Sitka. Esther and Jay raised three children. She loved spending time with family at picnics and holiday dinners, shopping with her mom and her daughters, and she enjoyed any opportunity to eat wild foods such as salmon, halibut, crab, venison, and berries. She looked forward to the annual Bingham hunting trip to Peril Straits on Spike Bingham’s boat the Danny Jay.
Esther worked for the U.S. Forest Service for several years before retiring. She kept busy by making cookbooks to share with family and friends, and shopping, and especially loved traveling to visit her grandchildren.
Esther was preceded in death by her parents, Sylvia Osbakken and Wallace Brizgaloff; her brothers Kenneth and Carl Osbakken; and niece Cassondra Blackburn.
She is survived and will be missed dearly by her loving and caring partner Jay Bingham, her children Julie (Jason) Barnes, Jeremy Bingham, Sheri (Henry) Schaefer; grandchildren Lynn Barnes, Chris Schaefer, Trace Barnes, Sabrina Schaefer, and Jacob Schaefer; her father Willis Osbakken; sisters Darlene (Larry Leutzinger) Hartshorn, and Jane Brizgaloff; nephews Justin Osbakken, Michael Brizgaloff, and niece Jessica Coonradt, and many loved aunts, uncles, and cousins.
To share condolences, stories, or photos with Esther’s family please visit https://everloved.com/life-of/esther-bingham/obituary/.
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