Esther T. Wilson Caldwell
Esther T. Wilson Caldwell
Esther
T. Wilson Caldwell, 104 years old, lovingly joined her husband Art and her
heavenly father on March 5, 2013.
Esther
was part of a family with ancestors who were true pioneers of Boise and
surrounding areas. She was born in Boise
on September 8, 1908, to Thomas and May Wilson, the fifth of ten children. Her father was a street car conductor for the
original Boise Interurban Railway. Later
the family owned a dairy in Nampa.
Esther
worked on the dairy for several years.
Her favorite job, however, was at Kress’s, a five and dime store where
she worked during the Christmas season.
Years later, after her husband became ill with MS, she put her
creativity to work as a florist at Valley Floral and later King Brown Floral,
until she retired at the age of 62.
Esther
attended Cole, Collister, Garfield, and Lowell Elementary schools, attended
middle school and began high school in Moscow, and graduated from Nampa High
School.
Esther
married the love of her life, Arthur (Art) Caldwell on December 9, 1933, and
together they had two beautiful children, Steve Caldwell and Barbara (Bobbie)
Caldwell Whitsitt. They were married 54
½ years until his death in 1987.
As
Bobbie says, “She made a wonderful life for all of us. Though times were often tight, she had an
inventive knack for making things work and creating beauty all around us, and
we couldn’t have had a better life. She
was the original “make-do” lady. She was
truly a blessing.” To her grandchildren,
she was like Aunt Bea on Mayberry, full of food offers, laughter, blow up
swimming pool in the back yard, and plenty of good times. Granddaughter Kelly’s favorite memory is that
she filled up the pool with the hose, and brought out an entire bag of Cheetos
(Kelly’s introduction to her favorite treat)!
Granddaughter Kari’s favorite memory is picking raspberries in the
garden and eating them with half and half and climbing her favorite tree, the
huge weeping willow. Granddaughter Traci’s
favorite was rummaging through the garden picking butter lettuce and
raspberries, all the better covered in sugar! Granddaughter Debi’s favorite memory was
watching her play “fly away Jack, fly away Jill” with little pieces of paper on
her fingers, and the Doublemint gum she had in her purse.
Esther
was a woman of amazing strength and able to live independently in her own home
until January of this year.
Esther
was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Art, brothers Loren, Thomas,
and Robert Wilson, sisters, Louise McArthur, Nina Yost, Edna Frazier, and
Virginia Cornilles. She is survived by
her daughter and son-in-law, Bobbie and Jerry Whitsitt of Boise, ID, son Steve
Caldwell of Yakima, WA, brothers Walter Wilson of Nampa, ID, and Ralph Wilson
of Stayton, OR, grandchildren, Mark Caldwell (Becky) of Seattle, WA, Joel
(Diane) Caldwell of Yakima, WA, Laurie (Leonard) Becker of Yakima, WA, Debi
(Vince) Stephenson of Littleton, CO, Kari (Wendi Trottier) Whitsitt of Boise,
ID, Traci (Doug) Jones of Eagle, ID, and Kelly (Dennis) Beebe of Boise, ID, 13
great-grandchildren, and 18 great-great-grandchildren!
Although
we are unable to cover 104 years of life and love in this column, all those of
us that knew and loved her will remember and carry her in our hearts.
We’d
like to offer our heartfelt thanks to Life Care Center of Treasure Valley and
their wonderful staff for their loving care.
Esther
was a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church in Nampa.
A
viewing will be held Friday evening, March 8
th
from 5 – 8:00 p.m. at
Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel. A
memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 9
th
, at 4:30 p.m.
at the First United Methodist Church, Boise Cathedral of the Rockies. A private family burial will precede the
service.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Esther T. Wilson Caldwell, please visit our flower store.
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