Queen Esther Winters

It was on July 7, 1920 that Queen Esther Winters transitioned into the World. Actually it began nine months earlier, but this was the day of her “coming out”. Born to the late Roy and Annie Bass in Nash County, North Carolina, she was the oldest of three girls and affectionately known as “Boot” to family and old friends.Queen’s family moved to Garner, NC when she was very young. It was there that she received her education, experienced the adventures of childhood, and met and married her childhood sweetheart, the late Howard S. Winters, on September 27, 1938. The young couple moved to Baltimore in the early forties where they established a home and raised their children.There were certain contradictions about Queen. She was soft-spoken, yet strong-willed, feisty and a fighter in every sense of the word. She had a warm smile that set others at ease and eyes that pierced the soul. Her beautiful hair drew attention wherever she went.Next to God, her family was the center of her life and she embraced her purpose with passion and compassion-leaving a legacy of love, hope and charity. She reached out to people and people were drawn to her. She had a special love for children and young people. The children in her neighborhood often stopped by to say hello and to snuggle up to her.Queen had the rare gifts of patience and listening. Not only did she listen, but she listened without prejudice or judgment. Family members, friends and strangers often found themselves confiding in her-even when they didn’t intend to.She was a worker and a planner-a woman of few words with a ready hand. She had an open door to family, friends and strangers alike and on many occasions provided a home to those in need.Queen was blessed because she was a giver. She loved to “treat” others and was the person many turned to when in need. She was also a woman of great wisdom and extremely loyal.Queen Esther Winters spent 82 years on her life’s journey. So needless to say she did a lot of things, saw a lot of things and met a lot of people along the way. She lived life, which means that she experienced both the joy and the pains of life. But the most incredible blessing, the thing we can only pray for in our own lives, is that she left this life having no regrets and no unfinished business.She remains in our presence in a different form. Just as she has passed on to an eternal life, her essence remains in who we are today because God chose to put her in our life for a season and a reason. She touched hearts and shaped lives without any pretense, but by far her greatest gift to us all is that she loved us unconditionally. Bless God and Praise His Holy Name!She leaves five generations: her sisters, Ida Mae Adams and Margaret E. Coleman, both of Garner, NC; her daughters, Sondra Ann Hamlin of Garner, NC, and Esther M. Steptoe, Annie M. Norris and Helen M. Grier of Baltimore, MD; ten grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren and four great great-grandchildren. Her only son, Robert S. Winters, predeceased her.

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Queen Esther Winters

July 7, 1920 - March 24, 2003