Barbara Esther ( Ward) Endter
1932 - 2022
Sonora resident, art collector, retired dietician and local volunteer Barbara Esther ( Ward)
Endter passed away on April 21, 2022, at her home. She was 89.
Curious about everything, Barbara lived a long and interesting life. She grew up in Watertown, Connecticut. After high school she attended Simmons College in Boston, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition and dietetics. She then moved to Rochester, New York, to work as a dietetic intern. She met her husband-to-be, Dale S.
Endter, in Rochester and they were married in
1955. While Barbara was raising her children, she also did volunteer work making wooden toys and Christmas decorations for sale to benefit the local hospital, worked as a reader/companion to the blind, volunteered at the Presbyterian Home and then worked for the Strong Museum as a volunteer. Interested in the company that her father, Leslie Ward, had worked at for many years, the Chase Brass and Copper Company, Barbara started to collect Chase’s art deco decorative items wherever she could find them. Barbara became a well-known collector of Chase and worked as a research assistant to author Donald Brian Johnson, author of “Chase Complete: Deco Specialties of the Chase Brass and Cooper Company’’.
After her husband, Dale, retired from Kodak, they started traveling in their personally outfitted travel trailer throughout the United States. They were interested in everything they visited, and Barbara kept detailed notebooks of all their trips. After the death of her son, Alan Endter, in 2011, and her husband in 2013, Barbara decided to move to Sonora in 2014, to be closer to her daughter, Susan Endter.
Barbara settled in quickly to life in Sonora. She worked as a volunteer for the Tuolumne County Historical Society, volunteered in the Tuolumne County Library’s Book Nook, and became a volunteer bereavement group co-facilitator for Adventist Health Sonora Hospice. Reading was one of her passions and she joined three book groups. She played accordion and enjoyed going out to hear music. Still a traveler at heart, Barbara worked toward fulfilling her West Coast bucket list, traveling as often as she could with her family. She hosted several family reunions in Palm Springs, traveled to the central coast, went to visit the Timberline Lodge in Oregon and explored the eastern side of the Sierra. Everyone who knew her appreciated her intelligence, her sense of humor, her knowledge and most of all, her kind heart. She will be deeply missed.
Barbara is survived by her daughter, Susan L. Endter; grandchildren Joshua Endter, Zachary Endter, Shelby Mullen and Jenelle Mullen; and great-granddaughter Kyra Moist. She was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Dale S. Endter; brother Robert Ward; and her son, Alan B. Endter.
A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 18, at Church of the 49ers Faith Hall, 11155 Jackson St. in Columbia. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Adventist Health Sonora Hospice or the charity of your choice.