Esther Marie Wolf
Private memorial service will be held at Firm Foundations Ministries.
Esther Bennett Wolf 86, of Burr Oak
8/14/1934-12/8/2020
Katherine Eicher (Kauffman) and Joseph Eicher parents
Esther was born at the Spring Hill Stock Farm in Burr Oak, MI. She was the middle child, with two older sisters, and two younger brothers. She helped on the farm and drove her dad’s Farmall H. She attended Tyler school, a one-room school, through 8th grade, then attended Colon High School, and graduated in 1952. That fall, she married Jack Bennett and they moved into a farm near Leonidas. They had four children. In 1961, they bought a farm north of Leonidas. Always interested in sports and outdoor activities, Esther played softball for the Leonidas girls’ team, rode motorcycles with the boys, and raced go carts. They made a runway on the farm for the neighbors to land their plane. It soon became the home of a little airport where 5 people learned to fly. She divorced, and then became the airport manager at Three Rivers Airport. She attended Glen Oaks Community College, where she graduated Suma Cum Laude with a degree in Arts. The college commissioned her for a painting, which hangs in the concourse of Glen Oaks. She won a scholarship from the Whirly Girls and was able to earn her commercial helicopter rating. She enjoyed racing airplanes with her flying friends. She kept her flight logs, and enjoyed looking through them reminiscing.
In 1977, she married James Wolf. They moved to Pontiac, MI, where Jim got a job at a large funeral home. They lived in an apartment above the funeral home for a number of years, then bought a house at Twin Lakes Village just west of the Oakland Pontiac Airport, where Esther had a job flying for private corporations.
In 1999, they moved back to Esther’s roots in the Burr Oak area at Eberhard Lake. They built their retirement home on the lake. Jim passed away in 2009. Esther continued living at the lake. She was a faithful member of Firm Foundation Ministries church, and enjoyed her friends and the services there.
She enjoyed her coffee klatch with a number of her Colon classmates. Esther enjoyed her garden and flowers, and made it a habit to eat breakfast near her martin house, and loved watching her birds. She loved spending time with her great-grandchildren. She was an avid reader and a collector of books by her many favorite authors.
She was preceded in death by her parents, siblings, and her son, James Bennett.
She is survived by her children, Terrence Bennett of Burr Oak, Frederic Bennett of Burr Oak, and Cherri Waters of Leonidas, her step-daughter Karen (David) Schaefer of Cincinnati, OH, her grandchildren, Melinda Bennett (Justin Miller) of Austin, TX, Amy Waters of Leonidas, Stacy (Jason) Schwenk of Centreville, Kaitlyn Schaefer and Samuel Schaefer of Cincinnati, OH; and her great-grandchildren Dustin, Brandon, Mia, and Anthony.
Memorials can be made to Colon Library & Wounded Warriors
Cremation has taken place. A private celebration of Esther’s life will be held at Firm Foundation Ministries, with immediate family only. Internment following at Locust Grove Cemetery. The funeral will be made available via live stream for extended family and public viewing courtesy of FFM.
December 10, 2020 @ 6:26 pm
Rest In Peace Esther, you deserve it. You worked so hard all your life to accomplish everything that you have. You are strong and a great example of of all women everywhere.
You will be missed.
December 10, 2020 @ 9:13 pm
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Jonathan and Marla Eash
December 12, 2020 @ 9:50 am
So sorry to hear of Esther’s passing. Always enjoyed her visits and family stories she shared. -Ed (cousin) & Lola Chupp.
December 12, 2020 @ 10:44 am
Some memories of my first cousin, Esther. Our families were pretty close. Her father taught me how to make Swiss cheese and take care of honey bees. I remember the day Esther and her sister Joan got married on the same day. We were impressed when Esther became a pilot. In later years I remember her hosting her Eicher cousins at their lovely home on Eberhart Lake. I remember her at most of the Eicher Reunions I was able to attend. May you children and grandchildren be comforted with her memory. She will be missed.
December 13, 2020 @ 7:22 pm
I always enjoyed when Aunt Esther was around because she had such interesting stories from her travels, plus she always made great appetizers for family meals! 🙂 When I was a kid I remember Esther talking about flying her plane to CA in some sort of competition and I thought, someday I will fly to CA. Little did I know that I would end up living there. Esther will be missed on earth, but I can envision her joining the Eicher family that has gone ahead of her for a great feast!
December 16, 2020 @ 11:48 am
Hard to believe my racing buddy has passed. Our time spent in the air and on the ground has always been a special part of my life. I feel blessed to have known you, Esther. I’m smiling even as I write this.
December 17, 2020 @ 12:18 am
May Grandma Esther be forever at home. I am blessed to have had her as a grandmother and to have learned the many things she imparted. Her influence is too vast to list. She nurtured creativity, personal growth & independent thinking. She picked me up in her airplane when I lived far away, cut fresh sunflowers when I visited, healed ailments with garden mint, and nourished with loving foods. We swam every summer evening, ate fresh strawberries in the mornings & visited places that fed the imagination. We grilled often, always had the sweetest sweet corn & ate fudge & popcorn in the evenings. She always recorded & saved interesting shows to share, gifted wonderful books, and encouraged me to paint watercolors for hours on end. In the winter it was milk & Oreos by the fireside & mint candies at Christmas. I’m so proud that Esther Wolf had a hand in making me who I am & so happy that so much of my childhood was by her side. May her memory be forever alive & her stories be told.
December 17, 2020 @ 1:16 pm
My condolences to the family.
Esther . . .
What a remarkable woman you were!
You’re an example for the independent and struggling women everywhere.
Rest in peace.
December 17, 2020 @ 3:05 pm
Our grandmother’s influence on my life is hard to put into words. We are all blessed to have known her. She encouraged independent thinking, nourished imagination & provided an example of courageous individualism while also honoring community & family. She picked me up in her plane when I lived far away, cut fresh sunflowers when I came to visit, and healed ailments with garden mint. In the summer we always had dill dip & evening swimming. In the winter evenings were spent by the fireside with milk & Oreos or fudge & popcorn. At Christmas there was fudge, mint candies, and classical guitar music. She always taped & shared interesting shows, gifted fascinating books, and encouraged me to paint watercolors for hours on end. She grew the most delicious strawberries & the sweetest sweet corn. She was strong & caring, resilient & funny, adventurous & witty. May she be forever at home, may her memory live on & her stories be told.