September 22 1935 December 29 2019
Esther Marie Hedges, 84 of Martinsville, gained her angel wings at 10:32 am on Sunday, December 29, 2019 at the Franciscan Hospice House in Indianapolis. She was diagnosed with a heart condition at an early age and defied the odds, living life with zest and appreciation forty-eight years beyond medical speculation. Esther was one of two children born to the late Clyde Parker Johnson and Hyacinth (Swazy) Gulliver. She was born on Sunday, September 22, 1935 in New Castle, Indiana. At the age of fourteen, while hospitalized, Esther received a bouquet of flowers from a young lad who would capture her heart and sweep her off her feet, Donald Edwin Hedges. Their love story is commendable and heartwarming! The two dated during high school and were united in marriage just a couple of months shy of Esther’s seventeenth birthday on July 5, 1952 in Bloomington, Indiana. Focused on her education and desire to learn, Esther returned to school and graduated from the American School of Chicago. In 1966, Esther gained employment with the Indianapolis Public School Corporation as a reading tutor. Her love for reading and children was a perfect match for her career and she happily tutored for IPS until her retirement in 1981. In addition to reading, Esther enjoyed writing, history research, needlework, and cats. She also had a genuine passion for steamboats, and above all, her family! She was a longtime member of the Bloomington Writer’s Group and a dedicated member of the United Methodist Church in Morgantown, Indiana. Esther will be missed and fondly remembered by her loving family including her husband of over sixty-seven years, Donald E. Hedges of Martinsville; two daughters, Dianna Marie Love of Avon, IN and Pandora Lee (husband, Patrick) Osburn of Beech Grove, IN; one brother, Bruce Emmett Johnson of Speedway, IN; one brother-in-law, S. David Hedges of Indianapolis; one sister-in-law, Sandra L. Maxwell of Noblesville, IN; three grandchildren, Amy Marie Willis, Joshua Allen Osburn and Eli David Osburn; three great grandchildren, Lisa Marie McGill, Julia Willis and Christian Osburn and two great great grandchildren, Lucille McGill and Arial Willis. Family and friends are invited to visit on Thursday, January 2, 2020 from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm and one hour prior to service on Friday, January 3, 2020 at Neal & Summers Funeral Home in Martinsville. A service celebrating Esther’s life will be on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 beginning at 11:00 am at the funeral home. She will be entombed following the service in Nebo Memorial Park Mausoleum. Contributions may be made in Esther’s memory to the American Heart Association and condolences and memories are encouraged to be shared with the family online at www.nealandsummers.com
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Esther Marie Hedges September 22 1935 December 29 2019.
Death notice for the town of: Martinsville, state: Indiana