Avery Ann Hester

Ann was born in St Louis, Missouri then moved to Lydia Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri until she was a young teenager. Her family moved to Gladstone, Missouri where she attended North Kansas City High school. She graduated from Northwest Missouri State where she was a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority and was Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity Sweetheart in 1964. She earned a secondary education degree and taught English at Oak Park High School for a year. Ann worked for IBM in Kansas City in the mid-1970s and later was a legal secretary at Compaq Computer in Houston from 1989-2005.

She and her husband, Jim, have been inseparable since they met nearly 15 years ago. After retirement they bought a spectacular 20 acre property in Paradise Valley, Montana, where they designed and built their dream vacation home. Spending time there in the summers, hosting friends and family, and getting to know their new Montana friends was a wonderful blessing to them.

Ann had many circles of friends from high school, college, places that she lived, and co-workers from everywhere she worked. She stayed in contact with many of them throughout the years. Her always positive outlook and constant smile left a lasting impression with everyone she met. Friends describe her as beautiful, elegant, always smiling, sweet, a wonderful friend, and one of the nicest people they ever met. Ann loved playing cards (for money!) with her good friends Ina, Mary, and Marilyn. She loved traveling and especially enjoyed New York City and Las Vegas. Another one of Ann’s favorite past times was shopping and laughing with her sister, Dee Dee. Her brother, Phil, was her ongoing rock of support and no more so than in these recent years when she was dealing with her health challenges.

Nothing pleased Ann more than having her kids and grandkids visit especially in Montana. The kids all loved to explore and experience the area and she was so happy just to watch them have fun. Her dear grandson, Keenan, was very precious to her and he will always remember Ann as his good friend, Mimi, who loved to play and had an awesome toy closet – it was hard to tell which of them liked Toys R Us more. When her beautiful granddaughter, Vivian, was born Ann was so happy and had big plans to love and spoil her but unfortunately by then her illness did not allow for as much of that as she would have liked. Ann would certainly light up when she could see photos and videos of Miss Viv. Ann’s love for her sons, Derick and Ryan, was endless and she often talked about how lucky she was to have such wonderful daughters-in-law, Kelly and Heather.

Over the last year Ann received excellent care in her home from four beautiful ladies. Like anyone who spent a great deal of time with her, strong bonds were formed and they always commented on what an honor it was to work for her.

Ann is survived by her husband Jim Hester from The Woodlands. Sons Derick Vaughan, his wife Kelly and grandson Keenan from Sugar Land, Texas. Ryan Vaughan, his wife Heather, and granddaughter Vivian from Austin, Texas. Sister Dee Dee Jones from Spring, Texas. Brother Phil Trotter and sister-in-law Janet from Houston. Ann is preceded in death by her parents Mildred and Lewis Trotter from Kansas City, Missouri.

In lieu of flowers, we know Ann would consider it an honor for you to instead make a donation to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Donation information can be found at: https://www.mdanderson.org/gifts/view-content?DFID=S_000821