October 10, 1929 – March 1, 2022
Esther Elaine Lee was born to immigrant parents on a homestead in Saskatchewan on October 10, 1929. She was the second oldest of five children born to Jack and Mabel Skalazub. Esther was predeceased by her brother, Allan, who died as an infant, her sister, Alice and her brother, Edward. Esther was also predeceased by her half siblings, Ruby, Katy, Olga and Edwin. Esther is survived by her sister, Mary, who has always and continues to reside in Saskatchewan. At an early age Esther knew she wanted to be a nurse but her parents encouraged her to become a teacher through the avenues available in Saskatchewan at that time. She later obtained her degree in education at the University of Victoria. Esther met a young Norwegian man named Rolf Lee and they married in 1950. They had three children, Elaine, Allan and Sharon, all born in Saskatchewan. In 1956 the family moved to Fort St. John, B.C. and they remained there until they moved to Revelstoke, B.C., in 1965. In the years following that they lived in Cassiar, B.C., Sicamous, B.C. and Salmon Arm, B.C. Esther was predeceased by her husband, Rolf, in 2017. She is survived by her children, Elaine (Jim), Allan and Sharon (Gil). Esther lived a long and happy life filled with family, friends, travel and adventure. She was fortunate to be able to watch her four grandchildren, Craig, Kelcy, Karlee and Lance, grow into amazing adults and she was blessed to have five great-grandchildren that shared their lives with her into their early 20’s and late teens. Esther touched a lot of lives through her 30+ years of teaching and is still fondly remembered by students in all of the places she taught school. Her brilliant mind, endless energy, optimism and sense of humor will be missed by each and everyone that shared even a tiny bit of their lives with Esther. In addition to her immediate family, left to mourn her are several nieces and nephews, great nieces and great nephews and countless fiends.
DON’T CRY BECAUSE IT’S OVER,
SMILE BECAUSE IT HAPPENED.