Esther S. Lindsey

Esther S. Lindsey

Esther S. Lindsey was a hands-on grandmother who would “get right down on the floor and play” with her grandchildren, daughter-in-law Clarissa Chichester recalled.

Ms. Lindsey, who was 57, died on Wednesday, June 22, 2016. Grandson Damion Schultz, age 9, said, “Life will be boring without her.”

Ms. Lindsey spent much of her time with family. With her four grandchildren, “she would play, do Legos, video games, baseball, fishing, whatever they wanted,” said Ms. Chichester.

She lived in Springfield Center, an hour-and-a-half away from the Berne home of her younger son Joel Schultz, but she was “here at the drop of a hat, when we needed her,” said Mr. Schultz’s wife, Ms. Chichester. “We were always together.”

A certified nursing assistant for most of her life, Ms. Lindsey worked most recently at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown.

She had a great sense of humor, Ms. Chichester said, and always had a funny response ready.

She was a crafter, and made son Joel Schultz a quilt from “all his baby stuff,” Ms. Chichester said. She made photo albums and scrapbooks of times with her children and grandchildren.

Ms. Lindsey was born in Little Falls on Nov. 3, 1958 to parents Lillian (née Comstock) and Frederick Hilley and grew up in Richmondville. She raised her own family in Gallupville and Berne. At the time of her death, she was living in Springfield Center in Otsego County.

She was a woman with a sense of adventure, said her daughter-in-law, and loved camping. She knew  how to pitch a tent, and was the one who taught her son Joel to do it. “We went camping up north everywhere,” Ms. Chichester recalled. Ms. Lindsey also loved sewing, hunting, and cruises.

“She was the best,” son Joel Schultz said simply.

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Esther S. Lindsey is survived by her two sons, Joel Schultz and his wife, Clarissa Chichester, of Berne, and William Schultz and his wife, Kelly, of Worcester.

Ms. Lindsey is also survived by her four grandchildren: Damion and Jalvin Schultz; and Aydan and Madison Schultz, and by three sisters, Justine Merwin of South Carolina, Barbara Aker of East Berne, and Sandra Roe of Middleburgh, as well as by several nieces and nephews.

Her parents, Lillian (née Comstock) and Frederick Hilley, died before her.

A private celebration of her life will be held at a later date.

Arrangements are being handled by Langan Funeral Home of Schoharie.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Springfield Library, 129 County Road 29A, Springfield Center, or to the Springfield Fire Department, Doyle Road, Springfield Center.

—Elizabeth Floyd Mair

 

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