Esther Pecota RememberedOctober 27, 2004
Esther Pecota, a vital member of the Northwest University family for many years, passed away Monday, Oct. 18. Her husband, Dan, who taught at Northwest for 37 years, died in 1997. A memorial service was held at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, October 25, in Butterfield Chapel at Northwest University. Following the service, a reception took place in Dickey Plaza in the Ness Academic Center. Professor LeRoy Johnson, a close friend of the Pecotas, gave the eulogy: The EulogyProbably about the time Dan and Esther were in their college years there was a popular song about love and marriage that included the line, “you can’t have one without the other.” For hundreds of us for many years that was the way we thought of the Pecotas, always as Dan and Esther or Esther and Dan. When Dan passed away in 1997, and Esther had some severe medical problems, Marilyn spent quite a bit of time with Esther helping her in a variety of ways. Esther would often say to Marilyn, “I think God made a mistake, he intended to take me home, but took Dan instead.” Of course, she was kidding, but their lives had been so intertwined that she couldn’t imagine being without Dan. One of the things she verbalized to us and to others at that time was what was she supposed to be doing for God and the Kingdom now that she was alone. God did not make a mistake in taking Dan first, and Esther found her niche in the Kingdom without Dan at her side. She decided to make herself available to students at Northwest as well as to other people whom she thought needed encouragement, advice, help, and prayer. Right up until last spring Esther would come to the chapel services here at Northwest and sit in the back and students and faculty would seek her out and sit and talk with her. She was always an encourager to these people. She also prayed for the University, both students and faculty/administration. Esther was a regular participant in the once a week noon prayer group led by Linda Flowers. She focused her prayers a bit on five faculty whom she called the “Big 5.0” Not only did she pray for this group, she had them and their spouses to her home for dinner and fellowship or took them out to eat together, and when she was no longer able to do those things she gave them all some homemade raspberry jam. Something she provided to the Calvary Chapel pastoral staff and other friends as well. These were all different ways that she found to continue being a help and encouragement to the Kingdom. That was a continuation of a lifestyle that Dan and Esther modeled for many of us, “open hearts, and an open home”, living lives of service to others. Many of the people here today have been recipients of the grace of God evidenced through the lives of Esther and Dan. For 25 of the 35 plus years that Dan was a prof at Northwest Esther ran the campus bookstore, and listened to students’ words and hearts. She knew sometimes before anyone else about needs and prayer requests that students carried. She also heard things about those of us who were profs, some good and some not so good. When we honored her at graduation when she retired I said that Esther’s bookstore was famous around the world, and because of all the places Northwest alums are serving that is still true. And the current bookstore manager carries on Esther’s practice of listening to students’ words and hearts. The naming of the Pecota Student Center was to honor Esther and Dan for the way they poured their hearts into the students on this campus. Generations of students rise up and call her “blessed”! The ObituaryEsther Bartsch was born in Delft, MN, August 31, 1927, and died in Kirkland, WA, October 18, 2004. She graduated from high school in Dinuba, CA. She was married to Daniel Pecota in Reedly, CA June 2, 1951. Esther attended Southern California College, as did Dan. The Pecotas moved to Washington state when Dan was hired to teach at Northwest University, and for most of their tenure at the University Esther managed the campus bookstore. Her beloved husband, Dan, preceded her in death in 1997, as did a grandson, Tyler, in May of 1992. Esther is survived by sons, Steve, and wife Karen, of Hamburg, Germany, and Jim, and wife Renee, of Kent, Washington, as well as by siblings, Luella Bartsch of Sequim, WA, Harry Bartsch of Fresno, CA, Alvin Bartsch of Fresno, CA, Ed Bartsch of Gunnison, CO, and Ruth White of Sewickly, PA. Esther is also survived by three much loved grandchildren, Kevin, Kathryn, and Nate. The Pecota family has requested that memorial gifts be contributed
to the Tyler James Pecota Memorial Scholarship Fund, a scholarship established
in memory of Dan and Esther Pecota’s grandson, Tyler James Pecota,
who died as the result of a brain tumor at age 10 in 1992. Gifts can
be sent to Northwest University, P.O. Box 579, Kirkland, WA 98083-0579
marked “Pecota Memorial." |
