Everybody has a story that deserves to be heard.

Esther was a resilient woman who met adversity with creative determination and a quirky sense of humor.  She devised complex schemes for apparently routine tasks and assembled outlandish structures to accomplish them.

Esther attended John Morrow Elementary School and Oliver High School in Pittsburgh.  A college education was out of reach for Esther's family, so she put her considerable intelligence and ingenuity to work as an executive secretary for Williams & Co., Inc. for many years.  When she retired from Williams, a then-retired former CEO took the time to send her a personal note thanking her for "all the help and moral support you gave me over the years we were working together."

She met her husband, Charles, on a blind date at Conneaut Lake Park.  With pink cotton candy stuck to her face, she was sure it was their last date.  Instead, they fell in love and were joyfully married for more than 50 years.  When he was in a tuberculosis sanitarium she transported a live Christmas tree to him via a 45-minue streetcar ride.  By herself.  Later she disinfected all of his carefully seasoned pipes with Lysol.

Esther was an accomplished seamstress who created everything from beautiful coats, suits and dresses to goofy sleeping caps for the whole family, adorable outfits for orphans in Haiti and comfy cushions for SPCA cats.  She was always game for a challenge and sewed new covers onto lawn chairs while Charles maneuvered the frames around her sewing machine.  Imagine this small woman sitting at her sewing machine dodging the chair frame as her husband tried to keep the fabric under the needle and the chair off her head!

After her retirement and the death of her husband, Esther applied her talents to working at Pennsylvania Women Work in Pittsburgh when she was in her eighties.  She continued her daily brisk walks on the treadmill until she was 87.

There's much more; there always is.  Like all of us, Esther had her issues, challenges and demons.  But she was a good person who did her very best with what she had, often under daunting circumstances.  Esther was guided and supported by her faith and was a congregant at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in West View, Pennsylvania for many years.  She went home to her God on December 27, 2020 after a long, brave struggle with a series of age-related injuries and illnesses.  She was 97 years old.

Esther was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the youngest daughter of Edwin and Marie (Shuster) Succop.  She was predeceased by her parents, her sisters Mildred, Frieda (Burtt) and Dorothy (Bannon) and her husband Charles.  She is survived by her son Paul and his wife Dolly; her daughter Ann; nephews Dick, Jack and Jim Burtt; grandsons Robert and Andrew Russell and several great-nieces and -nephews.

The family is deeply grateful to everyone at Glens Falls Center who cared for Esther over the past two years, enriching her life and easing her passing.  You really made a difference for all of us.  Special thanks to everyone who stopped in to say their goodbyes and share their stories.  Finally, the preparations you made after she passed away were a remarkable gift.

Arrangements are under the guidance of the Baker Funeral Home .  Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there will be no calling hours and services will be private. Esther will eternally rest at Uniondale Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Condolences may be sent by mail to Baker Funeral Home, 11 Lafayette Street, Queensbury, NY  12804, or on-line at www.bakerfuneralhome.com .

Please consider a donation to Bay Ridge Rescue Squad, 1109 Ridge Road, Queensbury, NY  12804.  Every time Esther had fallen and couldn't get up by herself they very graciously picked her up with a welcome combination of professionalism and compassion.

And please take the time to really listen to someone's story.