Esther Kloth

Beloved wife and mother, Esther Kloth, passed away peacefully early Friday morning, February 23, 2024, at the Fireside Convalescent Care Center in Santa Monica, Calif., where she and her husband, Paul, moved recently. Esther was born in Racine, Wisc., on September 15th, 1931 and was the youngest daughter of Signe and Asgar Lank. Her parents emigrated from Denmark through Ellis Island with her older sister, Rigmor, and Esther was very proud of her Danish heritage.

She attended Dana Lutheran college in Nebraska then moved to Oakland, Calif., for work. Esther first met Paul, her husband of 67 years, at Bible Camp in Wisconsin as teenagers. They met again in Oakland while Paul was interning for Clifford Paulsen, Esther’s brother- in-law, at the church Esther attended. After they married and Paul graduated from seminary, Esther and Paul relocated to Inglewood, Calif., where the first two of their children, Tom and Cindy were born. Other moves included Indianapolis, Ind., where the last two children, Lisa and Suzanne, were born; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Newhall, Calif., where they lived for 54 years.

Esther was passionate about her family, faith, music and children. She loved her role as the director of Little Shepherd Pre-School in Newhall where she steadfastly worked until the age of 82 years old. Over the three decades she spent at Little Shepherd, she touched the lives of thousands of children in the Santa Clarita Valley. In addition to her work at Little Shepherd, she volunteered as music director for Vacation Bible School and led children’s choirs at church. Music made her happy. She was a classically trained vocalist.

She is survived by her husband, Paul; four children, Thomas Kloth of West Hollywood; Cynthia Knotts

of Los Angeles; Lisa Okuno and her husband, Russell of Sunnyvale, Calif.; and Suzanne Kloth of Santa Clarita; her four grandchildren, Olivia Ondash of Brooklyn, New York, and her husband, Kurt and their son, Owen (Esther and Paul’s only great grandchild); Henry Knotts of Los Angeles; Dane Knotts of San

Francisco; Isabella Esther Okuno of Sunnyvale; and many nieces and nephews throughout the country.

A celebration of life service will be held at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Santa Monica on Saturday, March 9th at 1 p.m. with a reception following. The church address is 958 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to Lutheran World Relief.