Esther was born in Havana, Cuba on March 31, 1926 to parents Esther Mary Garciga and Jose Gonzalo Bezanilla. As a young child her family moved from Cuba to Key West where she grew up. She was the Valedictorian of her class from Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach FL, and went on to attend Florida State college for women in Tallahassee FL
Esther was married to Frederick D. Stipp for 47 years, until he passed in 2002.
His job required them to move frequently residing in several states - Maryland, Florida, Washington State, California, Oklahoma - and Italy and Spain. His last "tour of duty" was Claremore Oklahoma where they eventually retired.
Esther was very involved in Claremore's community - the Historic Society, League of Women Voters, to name a couple. She baked dozens and dozens of cookies for different fund raisers. She entered her bread in the county fair for the 1st time and won a blue ribbon. This qualified her to go on to the Oklahoma State Fair where she won the top prize. Esther never felt the need to enter again.
In 1998 Esther and Fred moved to metro Atlanta to be with family. They became members of St Oliver Plunkett Catholic Church where she was active in the seniors' group - the Jollie Ollies - until she was no longer able to drive or attend due to arthritis.
In 2015 Esther could no longer stay in her home and Assisted Living became a viable option. After two and a half years in an Assisted Living facility, she relocated to Benton House of Grayson last year and was very happy. She loved her apartment, her friends and the entire staff.
Esther had 4 loves - cats, chocolate, cooking, and reading. She had cats since she was a small child. Her last cat Malcolm was her constant companion until his death in 2018. There wasn't a chocolate she didn't like. She was known to finish 2 lbs of See's chocolate in 3 days. Esther was a gourmet cook and due to her husband's job she hosted many dinners and parties. She was working on a family cookbook at the time of her death. Upon meeting James Beard - renown chef - she told him he was 1 of 2 people she wanted to meet, the other being Paul Newman.
Esther was an avid reader since childhood and could read 3 books in a week. Sometimes she read 2 books at the same time.
She was preceded in death by her grandmother, parents, son Kevin, husband Fred and sister Gloria. Esther is survived by daughters Kristine (Roy) Acord of Loganville GA and Karen Weller of Oxford MS, step-son Fred Tenzer (Therese) of Parrish FL; 6 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, sister Celi Bezanilla of Atlanta GA, brother Joe (Dottie) Bezanilla of Melbourne Beach FL, brother-in-law Frank Vaine of Grayson GA and various nephews and nieces.
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