| Notes |
- Esther grew up on the family farm near Seymour, attended school in a one-room school house and graduated from the 8th grade there. Typical of the times, she was sent out to work as a mother's helper for very low wages. During her 20s and 30s she had a number of jobs in a variety of fields including factory work for the war effort during World War ll. She always loved flowers and gardening and eventually learned the florist trade.
In 1947 Esther traveled to Kelso, Washington to visit her Aunt Gladys (Sachs) Van Dinter and family. She fell so in love with the Pacific Northwest and the tremendous variety of flowers and greenery that could grow there that she made the area her home for the rest of her life and only went back to Wisconsin for occasional visits. She worked in several florist shops until she opened her own shop, Esther's Flower Shop, at 109 Oak Street in Kelso. In the early 1950s she joined Gloria Dei Lutheran, which began as a mission church in 1948. She was elected to the church council and met Dolph, a charter member who was also on the council.
Dolph was the youngest of six boys and one girl born to John and Julia Anne Christy Price, and had two half-brothers from his mother's previous marriage. He attended grade school and junior high in Kelso and graduated in 1930 from Kelso High School. He continued his education for one year at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, but the Great Depression made it impossible for him to continue. After a stint in the Civilian Conservation Corps, he obtained a position in the Kelso Post Office. He was drafted in 1942 and spent most of World War II in the Pacific Theater in the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia. After the war, he returned to his position as clerk at the Kelso Post Office and worked there until retiring in the mid 1970s.
Esther and Dolph married in September 1953. Dolph had acquired land outside the Kelso city limits some years earlier and so work began on a house at 3106 Allen Street. Their only child, Julie Ann, was born in August of 1954, just a month before they moved into the new house. Esther did not drive and with a baby and a new house outside of town, she decided to sell her business in October.
As Julie grew up, Esther stayed at home but frequently did the
flowers for weddings, funerals and other occasions. Her floral
creations were amazing and she often made them using the many
beautiful varieties of dahlias that Dolph grew. They always had a
large vegetable garden and many fruit trees and vine berries. She
was a superb cook and wonderful baker. She particularly enjoyed
serving a large salmon when relatives visited from WI and making
her unique version of opera fudge. In their later years Esther and
Dolph traveled to visit family and friends in WI, LA, GA and VA.
Esther died April 7, 1983 from complications of diabetes and
Dolph died October 16, 1998 after several years with Alzheimer's
disease. They both died at home at 3106 Allen Street and are
buried in Longview Memorial Park, Longview, Washington.
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1912 - 1983 (70 years)
