Esther Jean Hause

Esther Hause, was born in 1936 to Pietrantonio (“Pete”) and Anita (“Ann”) Riga in Gary, IN. She was named, loosely, after her maternal grandmother, Ernesta Piunti. As a child, she moved with her parents and older siblings Catherine and Tony to Long Beach, CA. In her youth, she worked as an accordion teacher. Seeing little future in that profession, she became a secretary at Douglas Aircraft.

She twice married and twice divorced Robert E. Hause, with whom she had one child, Jeffrey. After the second divorce, she put herself through court reporting school and became a certified shorthand reporter, eventually taking a post at the Orange County Superior Court.

Upon retiring, she moved to Las Vegas, where she enjoyed hosting visiting friends and family. She was a doting grandmother to her two grandsons, Jonathan and Alex, whom she often watched so that her son and daughter-in-law, Deborah, could get away for a vacation. She sent them entirely too many toys at Christmas and took them to every child-friendly venue in Las Vegas.

Throughout her life she expressed pride in her Italian heritage, taking special pleasure in Italian cuisine. A highlight of her retirement years was a trip she and her niece, Melinda, took to Italy, where they saw her father’s hometown and met with relatives.

She kept busy in retirement with activities for senior citizens in her local community. She read the newspaper dutifully, sent her friends jokes over email, and spent hours on the phone each week with family, including her son, niece, nephews, and cousins.

Funeral rites will take place at 1:00 pm on Saturday, August 30th, at Palm Mortuary NW in Las Vegas. She will be buried with her family at All Souls Cemetery in Long Beach, California, where a memorial service will be held at a later date.