Hester Kool-Waas

Hester Kool, daughter of Benedictus z’’l and Sarah Waas z’’l, sister of Isaac z’’l, mother of Richard, Donald and Sheryl Kool, grandmother of Jessica, David, Larissa, Marianna, Zoe, Avi, Isaac and Skylar, great-grandmother of Zack, Jacob, Sam, Cohen, Elliot and Frankie, mother-in-law of Enid and Eric, died in Seattle Washington on October 28th 2025 at the age of 98.

Born in Amsterdam, Hester spent her early years in the coastal village of Zandvoort on the North Sea. Of her nuclear family, only she survived the Holocaust. That she survived is a testament to the courage of a Dutch family that hid a Jewish teenager during that dark period, and her own personal grit, determination and resilience.

Leaving as a twenty-year old war orphan in 1947, she found love in America in the form of Dutchman Samuel Kool and they together built a family.

Living in the coastal town of Hull MA, for 30 years, she was active in Haddasah, Temple Shalom Sisterhood, and in other community activities including working in the three Hull pharmacies and at the annual Town Meetings, and raising money for the Hull High School band trips.

Moving to Washington State in 1990 she quickly became totally Seattle-ized, refusing to visit family in the south because, as she said, “you can’t get a good latte in Florida”. She loved Seattle and loved her community at the Ida Culver House Broadview on Greenwood Ave, where she lived well and happily for the last 11 years of her long life.