Esther Grace Powell Porter, a devoted mother and grandmother, writer, artist, lifelong reader, woman of faith, and accomplished financial professional, died October 1, 2026, at the age of 87. After a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Esther ultimately died from pancreatic cancer.

Esther was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1938 to Lewis and Olive Powell. As a young child, she moved with her family to Hagerstown, Maryland, where she and her older brother, David, grew up in the family home on Coffman Avenue.

Her childhood coincided with World War II, but her memories of those years were filled with the pleasures of family life: a large backyard teaming with gardens, grapevines, fruit trees, chickens and beloved pets; sunny days spent playing outside with friends; summers spent at Clearview, her maternal family’s beloved mountaintop farm in West Virginia.

Esther came from a family that prized intelligence, education and hard work. Her mother, Olive, and each of Olive’s eight siblings attended college in the early 1900s, and books and learning were treasured across the generations.

Esther also deeply loved and admired her father, Lewis. She especially loved the family story of her dad and his siblings sitting outside at their farm doing math problems together for fun. She was equally proud of his courage and often told the story of how, at just 17, he went off to fight in Germany during World War I. When he died at 101, he was one of the last remaining WWI veterans in America. His intelligence, self-reliance and determination made a lasting impression on his daughter.

Esther inherited those qualities in abundance. From an early age, she was an exceptional student and gifted artist. She won prizes for her poster designs and loved designing and sewing her own clothes, thus beginning a lifelong appreciation for beautiful clothing and personal style. She often sketched portraits of her daughters when they were young and painted throughout her life, continuing to produce beautiful work even after dementia had begun to take away other abilities.

Books and words were equally important to Esther. She was a voracious reader with a cherished personal library, and an avid and careful writer of letters, journals and poetry. She cared deeply about words and how they were used, and always aspired to write a book one day.

In high school, Esther was an award-winning artist and varsity basketball player. She went on to attend Hagerstown Junior College, where she was a cheerleader, then Shepherd College, where she earned a degree in English and graduated third in her class. After college, Esther proudly returned to Hagerstown Junior College to work as the Assistant Registrar from 1962-1966.

In 1964, she married Darrell D. Porter. Darrell’s studies to earn his PhD and subsequent career with DuPont took the family to Minnesota, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and eventually Colorado. Along the way came daughters Sarah Powell, Mary Katherine and Anne Louise. Esther embraced each move with enthusiasm. She loved the possibility of a new house and took great pleasure in making each one beautiful, decorating it impeccably and turning unfamiliar rooms into a gracious home for her family. Moving offered another outlet for the same creativity and eye for beauty that appeared in her painting, sewing and personal style.

During those years, she tutored children in reading, wrote PTA newsletters, served on community boards and committees, volunteered at church, served as a docent in museums, hosted bridge games and tea parties, sewed spectacular Halloween costumes for her girls, and became an enthusiastic golfer and tennis player. Her resume from this era included things like “Planned and executed Bicentennial Bus Tour of Philadelphia” and “PTA Newsletter: Integration of Suburban Wilmington Schools — risked taking an unpopular viewpoint but one I believed in.”

Good manners also mattered greatly to Esther, and she raised her daughters with frequent lessons in etiquette and the importance of being polite. She also wanted something for her daughters that women of her own generation had not always been encouraged to imagine: the freedom to choose their own paths. Education, independence and the ability to support oneself were lessons she impressed upon them early and often.

In 1976, the family moved to Denver, Colorado. Far from the family and friends she loved on the East Coast, Esther began contemplating a different future. She saw an advertisement for the federal government’s workforce entrance exam (the PACE) and secretly decided to take it. She earned a near-perfect score.

What followed was a remarkable reinvention: Esther entered federal service and became a financial analyst with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The woman whose first intellectual loves were books, language and art proved equally gifted with numbers, finance and analytical work. The woman who loved to host tea parties and decorate houses traded her sewing machine for a briefcase and entered the workforce.

Esther returned east with her three daughters, eventually settling in Springfield, Virginia. While working and raising her family, she also returned to school for a master’s degree in financial management from American University.

Esther’s life was also marked by profound loss. In 1985, her youngest daughter, Anne Louise, died suddenly at age 13 from an arteriovenous malformation. Esther carried the loss of Anne for the rest of her life.

Esther remained with HUD until her mid-fifties and continued working for many years afterward in accounting and financial positions. A longtime member of Sydenstricker United Methodist Church, she found friendship and purpose in her faith, church life and volunteer service.

Consistent with a lifetime of curiosity and restlessness, Esther eventually moved to a tenth-floor apartment in Leesburg overlooking the Potomac River where she served as editor of the community newsletter, then back to a single-family home near Charlottesville, where she was very active in her church and community service. Finally, a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in 2018 brought Esther to Ashby Ponds in Northern Virginia to be closer to her daughters and their families.

Throughout her life, Esther enjoyed reading and writing; painting, sewing, and knitting; playing golf, tennis, cards and word games; and closely following current events. She read The Wall Street Journal daily and completed crossword puzzles into her mid-eighties, when dementia made them too difficult. Hers was a mind that was rarely idle: equally comfortable with words and numbers, a difficult crossword or a financial problem. She was always eager to fill an empty page or a blank canvas with something meaningful and beautiful.

Esther was preceded in death by her parents, Lewis and Olive Powell; her brother, David Powell; and her beloved daughter, Anne Louise Porter. 

She is survived by her daughter Sarah Powell “Sally” Wright and her husband, Garry; her daughter Mary Porter Green and her husband, Russell; her grandchildren Kati, Mandy, Matthew and Charlie; her stepgrandchildren Jordan and Jackson; Mandy’s husband, Vikaas; and her great-grandson, Leo.

Through her long and accomplished life, Esther passed forward what generations of her family had given to her: a reverence for education, an expectation of hard work, an appreciation for manners, a fiercely independent mind, and the conviction that her daughters and grandchildren should be free to make full use of their abilities.

She leaves behind a family deeply shaped by her faith, creativity and courage.

The family welcomes all to attend the visitation at Leesburg United Methodist Church on Saturday, October 17 at 4:30 p.m. with a service beginning at 5:30 p.m. A celebration of Esther’s life will follow the service at the home of Esther’s daughter Mary, also in Leesburg. Directions will be available at the service. Dry martinis, Esther’s drink of choice, will be flowing in her honor.

Burial will occur on Sunday, October 18, at 1 p.m. at West Alexander Cemetery in West Alexander, PA. This historic cemetery holds almost two centuries of Esther’s family, and is minutes from Clearview, her family’s beloved farm in West Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial contribution to the Alzheimer’s Association in Esther’s name: https://events.alz.org/fundraisers/marygreen