Esther M. von Storch

The former Esther Marguerite Schild was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania where she graduated from Technical High School in 1944. After the daughter of the late Andrew Schild and Sophia Gohsler Schild of Southside Scranton graduated from high school, she worked for the Southside Bank & Trust in Scranton as a teller before leaving that position in September 1948 to join her fiancé, Kenneth E. von Storch in Texas. They were married October 2, 1948, in Fort Worth, finally settling down a few years later in Hurst, Texas where they raised their four children. Esther and Ken, along with four other couples, established the St. Paul United Methodist Church in Hurst, Texas in 1962, initially holding services in the Hurst Bowl on Pipeline Road until they could raise the funds to build in the church’s current location on Bedford-Euless Road. The church was eventually incorporated in 1971. Esther was a stay-at-home mom to the children while they were young and eventually earned her associate degree at then Tarrant County Junior College in Media Studies teaching classes and running the media lab before retiring in 1986. She and Ken spent the next 20 years at Holly Lake Ranch in East Texas, where they built two homes, made lots of lifelong friends, participated in weekly bridge parties and where Esther remained active in the church and the local library. While enjoying retirement, Esther and Ken traveled the world and were involved in the organization and eventual growth of Holly Lake Chapel, their local church before moving back to the Metroplex in 2006. Esther and Ken were married for 70 years before Ken passed away in December 2018.

Esther is survived by daughters Vaunie Stewart of Bryn Mawr, PA. and Amy von Storch-Sherry of Flower Mound, TX.; sons Kenneth von Storch of Colleyville, TX. and Andy von Storch of Little Rock, AR., five grandchildren and one great grandchild.

A memorial service for Mrs. von Storch will be held at St. Paul UMC, 852 W. Bedford-Euless Rd. in Hurst, TX June 18, 2022, at 11 a.m.