Esther L. Huriaux
HURIAUX, BROWN, YOST, BROWN, SHEPHERD, VAN SANFORD, REITZ, QIAO
Posted By: Amanda Lensing (email)
Date: 6/26/2015 at 10:35:32
Esther L. Huriaux, a longtime resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland, who recently moved to Iowa City; passed away Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at Mercy Hospital - Hospice Care Unit in Iowa City, Iowa.
Born on August 26, 1923 in Washington, D.C., Esther was the daughter of Lorene Shepherd Brown and Lester Mahon Yost. She grew up on New Hampshire Avenue in the Petworth neighborhood of D.C. with her mother and maternal grandparents, Lorin Andrews Brown and Martha Alice Shepherd Brown, who had built the house. She graduated from Roosevelt High School and trained for teaching at Wilson Teacher’s College. She married Adolphe P. Huriaux on May 31, 1944 in Takoma Park, Maryland -- he preceded her in death on June 29, 2007.
After the birth of three children and the death of her grandmother, everyone moved from Petworth to their newly-built home in Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1951, when Esther was just 28 years old. She lived there for the next 64 years.
Esther was born in the age of the eggman, iceboxes, and coal furnaces. Her first job was sewing corsets. She went into real estate, and became a realtor and broker in a family business. She was one of the first women appraisers in the D.C. area. She prided herself on fair and careful appraisals for veterans seeking loans to buy a home.
During her career, Esther was a member of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers (Senior Member), the National Association of Real Estate Boards, the Maryland Association of Realtors, and a member and director of the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Realtors. She was also a member of the “Twenty Club” -- twenty women from her 1944 class at Wilson Teacher’s College -- who have continued to gather once a month for lunch since then. She grew up in the Columbia Heights Christian Church, which became the North Chevy Chase Christian Church.
Even at age 91, Esther continued to look at fashions and catalogs and make wardrobe suggestions. Her memory stretched back to the poems she learned growing up. She loved music and dancing and sang along to 40’s big band numbers all her life.
Esther Lorene Huriaux is survived by her children: Richard (Helen) Huriaux of Baltimore, Terye (Royce) Van Sanford of Phoenix, Arizona, Adolphe (Lisa) Huriaux of Ellicott City, Maryland, and Sharyn Huriaux Reitz (John) of Iowa City, Iowa. Her grandchildren are Emalie Huriaux (Tom Connolly) of El Cerrito, California; Erich (Connie) Van Sanford of Chandler, Arizona; Dianna Van Sanford of Flagstaff, Arizona; Christopher (Jill) Reitz of Olympia, Washington; and Benjamin (Jing Qiao) Reitz of Chicago, Illinois. Her great-grandchildren are Anais Connolly-Huriaux and Anthony, Timothy, and Victoria Van Sanford.
Esther was welcomed into the Iowa City community by the members of the Congregational United Church of Christ and Reverend William Lovin, and the staff and residents of Melrose Meadows.
The family appreciates the gentle care of the staff of the Mercy Hospital - Hospice Care Unit and the Iowa City Hospice.
Private family services will be held at St. Paul’s Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. on July 8, 2015.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen