Esther Louise Giesbrecht

Esther Louise (Kilcup) Giesbrecht, 91, answered the call of her Lord and Savior in the early hours of July 26, 2024, to her eternal home. She is preceded in death by her husband, Donald Henry Giesbrecht, a son-in-law, Ross Giffen, five sisters and three brothers. She is survived by two sisters, Ruth LaBenne and Elizabeth Munck, all her children, Kit Tysor (Randy), Timothy Giesbrecht (Catherine), Tony Giesbrecht (Becky), Celia Funk (Justin), Nina Jacobson, Anne Bambauer (Stephen), and Lucille Ellison (Lanny), along with 31 grandchildren, 61 great grandchildren, and 3 great, great grandchildren.

Esther was born on January 22, 1933, in Hoquiam, Washington. In 1941, the family relocated to Tacoma. After graduation, Esther worked for a law office as a secretary and later a paralegal, before her father asked her to stay home and help her mother with the cooking and other responsibilities for their large household. Several months later, she met Don Giesbrecht at a Bible  conference and fell in love. They were married on May 1, 1954, and Esther moved to Aberdeen, Idaho.

Over the course of the next thirteen years, they welcomed seven children – five girls and two boys. Esther was a homemaker and stay at home mom. She was often found helping her children with their endeavors whether it was hoeing beets, power-raking lawns, working in the potato harvests, or many others, she was there to give a helping hand. In the early nineteen eighties, Esther learned that the Rotary Club was looking for someone to cook for their club meetings each Wednesday at noon. She was delighted when they accepted her offer. Esther was an excellent cook, and as the word spread, other opportunities to cater opened. Before long, Esther found herself running a full-fledged catering service. She loved it! Along with catering meals, Esther saw other opportunities to meet a need. She set up a temporary hamburger stand at the outlying beet dumps during harvest and brought truckloads of fruit up from Utah in the late summer and fall. When all the children left home, Don and Esther opened the Fairview Inn restaurant, and then later, the bed and breakfast. The kitchen was filled with the heady scent of fresh baked bread, and often rang with laughter, as they prepared for their guests. Esther had the gift of making work fun, and she gathered those around her into her kitchen – creating a circle of belonging. She lived her faith, never afraid to share the good news of the God she knew and loved with everyone she met. She started a Sunday School for children on Sunday afternoons where she provided crafts for them to do while she shared the story of Jesus and His incredible love with them. Esther means “a star” and she was ours – a gift from God that lit our world for so many years, teaching us to live with faith and passion. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Phillipians 1:3.

Esther served for many years, faithfully, cheerfully and unselfishly, but the day came when she had to hang up her apron, and we are so thankful to The Gables and to Heritage Hospice for their loving care of her in the last months of her life. 

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