Spafard, Esther

Esther Lewis Spafard of West Hartford, 90, died on January 29th, 2023 at the Hartford Hospital. She was the daughter of Ruth and Henry Spafard. Born in Hartford on June 4, 1932, she lived most of her life in West Hartford before moving to New Britain in 1993 and then to The McAuley of West Hartford in 2005.

Esther was a graduate of Oxford School and Keuka College. She worked at Hartford Hospital as a registered nurse from 19541968. Her next three years were spent as a missionary nurse in Gaziantep, Turkey under the auspices of the United Church Board for World Ministries. Returning to the states, she worked in Christian Education at the First Church of Christ Congregational in West Hartford and the Hartford Seminary Bookstore. Circling back to nursing, she worked at the New Britain General Hospital and for sixteen years at Duncaster in Bloomfield, from where she retired in January 2003. Her love of Silver Lake Camp was evidenced by twenty years of work as camp nurse from its inception in 1957.

She was an active seventy-seven year member of the First Church of Christ Congregational West Hartford, where she served on multiple boards and committees. Her hobbies included traveling, reading, knitting, and picture puzzles. She volunteered for the Red Cross Blood Program, Meals on Wheels, and Habitat for Humanity. While at The McAuley, she worked in the Gift Shop and was on the welcoming committee. For the knitting ministry at church, she knit many of both prayer and baptismal shawls.

Esther is survived by her nieces and their husbands, Yvonne DeGraw and Craig Prater of Santa Barbara, California, and Rhonda and Rodney Sharp of Denton, Texas. She has four grand nephews, Kenyon and Grayson Prater, and Jared and Calvin Sharp. She was predeceased by her sister Elizabeth and her brother-inlaw Roy DeGraw of Pollock Pines, California.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 at the First Church of Christ Congregational, 12 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT at 11:00 am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to First Church of Christ Congregational, 12 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT 06107 or Habitat for Humanity International, 322 West Lamar Street, Americus, GA 31709. Sheehan-Hilborn-Breen Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.