Helen Esther Kline

Esther was born August 23, 1930, in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, a small town 35 miles north of Philadelphia. She was raised in the culture of a fundamentalist General Conference Mennonite Church. Her first pastor was a recent graduate of Moody Bible Institute. She believed on the name of Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord at an early age under the guidance of her Mother. She was active in her church, teaching Sunday School, serving as substitute pianist, attending Sunday services, as well as Wednesday night prayer services, and attending church summer camps. She was baptized as an infant but chose to later be baptized as an adult. Her faith matured over the years under the influence of Nurses Christian Fellowship and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. The teachings of Steve Brown were helpful to her in understanding God's grace. She fellowshipped with several denominations over the years and was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, Kansas at the time of her death, but she always considered herself a Mennonite. Esther graduated from Sellersville-Perkasie High School and furthered her education by obtaining a Diploma in Bible from the Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Nebraska; Diploma in Nursing from Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton, Kansas; Diploma in Nurse Anesthesia from St. Michael's Hospital School of Anesthesia in Grand Forks, North Dakota; BSN from Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana; MS in Health Sciences Education and Evaluation from the State University of New York at Buffalo, New York; and MSN in Maternal-Child Nursing from Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois. Esther worked in nursing 38 years. She worked in various fields of nursing including staff nursing, administrative nursing, anesthesia, education, coordinator of Regional Medical Programs in Hawaii, research associate, and consultant. She worked in various areas of nursing including medical/surgical, labor and delivery, office nursing, respiratory nursing, pediatrics, high risk newborn nursing, and operating room. The nursing experience she enjoyed the most was her work with the Regional Medical Programs in Hawaii. She used her expertise in pediatric respiratory nursing to teach the Hawaiian nurses how to care for neonatal and pediatric children with respiratory problems not only in Honolulu, but she went to the outer islands to teach those nurses also. She enjoyed interacting with the nurses of various cultures and learning of their cultural values and food habits. She was a member of several health-related organizations including the Mennonite Health Association, Sigma Theta Tau (the National Honor Society of Nursing), American Nurses Association, and the National League for Nursing. Esther enjoyed a variety of activities. She genuinely enjoyed people and liked talking to people of all ages and cultures. If you ever got into a discussion about politics with her, you quickly found out she had strong political views. She had a quick wit and never completely lost her eastern culture. She never really understood Midwestern ways. She enjoyed eating foods of different cultures and learning to prepare them. She was an avid sport's fan, especially football and the Chicago Bears. The Cubs of Chicago were always her baseball team. She delighted in the time she received tickets to watch the Bulls play basketball in their old arena. But when she moved to Kansas, KU and K-State became her teams. She enjoyed reading everything from newspapers to cookbooks to non-fiction and fiction. In her early adult years, she liked to sew, knit, do other handwork. There was nothing she enjoyed more in her middle years than to be in a boat on a lake fishing. In her later years, she enjoyed the time to travel in a motor home visiting Alaska, Nova Scotia, Florida, Texas, California, Oregon, and states in between. She enjoyed spending winters in the south and summers in Wisconsin and Canada. One of her last trips was to Colorado during September of 2001 when the campground at Lake Pueblo State Park was evacuated because of concern that the dam might be blown up. Her last trip was to Texas for the winter of 2001/2002. Traveling after 2002 was limited to campgrounds in Kansas. Throughout her life, she cherished her animals. She had and loved several dogs and cats. At her death, she cherished her 12 year old cat, Doug, whom she rescued as a kitten from Douglas State Lake while on a fishing outing. Her dog at the time of her death was named Asher, which meant happiness, since she had just lost her 12 year old dog to a brain tumor. Her animals brought her much happiness with their unconditional love. Esther died as she wished she could at home with her animals around her on May 3, 2006. She is survived by her cat, Doug, her dog, Asher, her long time friend, Edith Hogle, her brother, Dave Kline and his wife, Gloria, of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, her Niece, Lorie Helmer and her husband, Tom, of Sellersville, Pennsylvania, her Nephew, David Kline, of New Hope, Pennsylvania, and her great Nieces, Caitlin and Kelsie Callahan of Sellersville, Pennsylvania. She was preceded in death by her Mother and Father, Mamie and Clinton Kline of Perkasie, Pennsylvania. SERVICES: She was cremated, Graveside Inurnment services will be held from Woodlawn Cmetery at 1:00PM, Thursday August 9, 2007. MEMORIALS: Pacific Garden Mission, c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067.