Esther A Oerly

Esther Oerly, 95, passed into God's light on Saturday evening, January 6, 2018, at Cooper County Memorial Hospital surrounded by her family after a short illiness. Visitation for Esther will be held from 6 to 8 P.M. on Wednesday, January 10, at the Evangelical United Church of Christ Educational Building in Boonville.  Funeral services will be held at 1 P.M. on Thursday, January 11, at the church.  The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Evangelical United Church of Christ. Online condolences may be left at: www.howardfh.com

Esther Anna Marie Bueker Oerly was born on May 22, 1922, near New Franklin, Missouri, on the family farm of her parents, Lewis and Pauline Schoppenhorst Bueker.  She was baptised on June 18, 1922, and confirmed on April 5, 1936, (Palm Sunday) by Reverend N. C. Schultz at the Immanuel United Church of Christ in New Franklin.  On Monday, August 24, 1953, she married Earl Alvin Oerly at the Evangelical United Church of Christ in Boonville.  Her husband, Earl, went home to God's house on January 17, 1992.   Before she married, she worked as a cashier for the J. C. Penney store in Boonville.  Later, when her children were in school, she worked for several years in the office at the McGraw-Edison Service Center on Vine Street in Boonville. 

Esther was a lifelong homemaker famous for her cooking especially her vegetable soup, pies, divinity, and strawberry dessert.  She kept her family well-fed.  This year, at age 95, she made two strawberry desserts for Thanksgiving.  Sewing was one of her hobbies.  She made her daughters and herself clothes and later in life became well-known for her quilting skills.  She made many quilts and gave many, many quilts away.  Those quilts are treasured by her family and friends who received them.  She also loved gardening in her younger years and still raised tomatoes in patio pots and her beloved geraniums.  She loved her pets and watching the birds at her bird feeders, especially the cardinals.  If she watched television, it was most often sports, especially baseball and basketball.  She loved the Cardinals and Royals and MU basketball.  She kept her whole family up-to-date giving them her baseball and basketball reports.  She also had many fond memories of traveling with her husband to Colorado and later with her friends on bus trips around the United States.  She loved playing with her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren.  She and her husband believed in the value of an education and sent all three of their children to college.  She spoke her mind and would set you straight if she felt like you needed it.  But, most of all, she was a woman of faith, and she ingrained that faith into her family.

She is survived by her older sister, Leona Martin, who will turn 101 in February; her three children -Kathryn (Ricky) Ray, Christa Russell, and Larry (Patty) Oerly; her grandchildren - Alex Henson, Jessica (John) Pulliam, Emma Russell, Colton (Lauren Burnett) Russell, Emily Oerly, Sarah Oerly, and Amber Oerly; step-grandsons - Jamie (Jill) Ray and Nathan (Courtney) Ray; great-grandchildren - Zoey and Ryder Pulliam and Kyree and Jaxx Russell; and step-grandchildren - Taylor, Josie, Mason, and Rylan Ray.

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