Mary Esther Redmiles

The following obituary was lovingly submitted by the family of Mary Esther Redmiles

On July 16th, 2021 Mary Esther Redmiles, a resident of Laurel, MD for 93 years, passed away peacefully surrounded by family.

Mary Esther (Ecker) Redmiles was born in North Laurel, MD on December 25, 1927. She was the first child of Lester Redmiles and Gladys Juanita (Brown) Redmiles. The three of them lived in her grandparents’ house (Thomas Brown and Albena (Kunzig) Brown) while her father was building their family home just up the hill a little ways on North Laurel Road.  She spent most of her childhood in North Laurel surrounded by her many aunts and uncles, both sets of grandparents, siblings and cousins.  She worked in the kitchen with her mother and grandmother, enjoying the time with them learning to bake and cook. Her time spent alongside her Uncle "Bummy" (Ernest James Brown) in the greenhouse and gardens turned into a lifelong love of plants and flowers that was evident in her many gardens and yard.  In the 60's the family moved to West Laurel into one of the homes her brother Lester Redmiles built where she stayed the rest of her life. At the young age of 16, Esther started working for the FBI where she analyzed fingerprints when they were still on paper and cards, this proved to be too boring for her so she did not stay at this job for long. Esther enrolled in Strayer University and began working for the District Government. She moved up through the personnel department where she spent her career in the District Government, working from her big corner office on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and D Street.  She enjoyed shopping and long lunches in Washington DC with her good friend and co-worker Rosemary among others.  

Esther enjoyed traveling with her siblings and many nieces and nephews, taking them and accompanying them on many trips, including Europe, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Chicago, Puerto-Rico and many more...  Esther never married nor had kids of her own, but she was a treasured aunt to many nieces and nephews, and their children, and was an integral part of their lives, spending holidays, birthdays and other life celebrations with them, she was always surrounded by her big, close and loving family. As the eldest child, Esther took on many family responsibilities when her mother passed away, continuing the traditional big family Christmas parties every year in her house, which allowed us to also celebrate her birthday, as she was born on Christmas day. She had many lifelong friends from school and growing up in a close knit area.

After Esther retired she enjoyed gardening, maintaining many types of flowers and plants inside and outside her home, ceramics and porcelain doll making (her mother sewed and made the clothes), bowling, participating as the treasurer of the local gardening club, many dinners and shows at the local theater with her close friends, crossword and soduku puzzles, bird watching, and feeding her fish in her koi pond.

Esther is survived by her sister Mildred (Redmiles) Zimmer and husband Reid, brother Everett Redmiles and wife Jean (Watt) Redmiles, sister-in-law Naomi (Sealock) Redmiles - wife of her brother Lester Redmiles and brother-in-law Kenneth Rogers Sr. -husband of her sister Gloria (Redmiles) Rogers.  

Ecker, as she was affectionately called, is survived by many nieces and nephews; Lesa (Redmiles) Jenkins, Denise (Motel) Roberts and husband Eric Roberts, David Motel and wife Lisa (Culp) Motel, Candy (Zimmer) Rios and husband Lee Rios, Kimberly (Zimmer) Roberts and husband Jason Roberts, Jeffreid Zimmer and wife Michele (McCoy) Zimmer,  Brian Zimmer, Craig Redmiles and wife Kimberly (Link) Redmiles, Brent Redmiles and wife Michelle (Witholder) Redmiles, Keith Redmiles and wife Michele (Brice) Redmiles, Kenneth Rogers and wife Cindy (Nieves) Rogers, Todd Rogers and wife AnnMarie (Bowles) Rogers, Dawn Rogers and husband Humberto Boncristiani, and Paul Rogers. 

She is also survived by Grand nieces and nephews; Nathan Roberts and wife Regina (Clark) Roberts, Joshua Roberts, Ashley Motel, Justin Jenkins and wife Mary (Mattson) Jenkins, Jenna (Jenkins) Cobb, Tyler Roberts, Colby Roberts, Derek Zimmer, Nicole Zimmer, Phineas Zimmer, Katlyn Redmiles, Chrisopher Redmiles, Jordan Redmiles, Taylor Redmiles, Crystal (Rogers) Burke and husband Joshua Burke, Steven Rogers and fiancée Lexy Martinez, Lester Rogers, Leah Rogers, Samantha Lopez and Jillian Lopez.

And she continued to touch the lives of her great-grand nephews, Kallen Burke, Alden Burke, Nikola Roberts, Maddox Jenkins and Maverick Jenkins. She especially enjoyed their talks, having meaningful discussions about things that were important and interesting to them, sharing her stories and building memories for all, always hugging them, asking others about them, and loving their visits.

Esther was preceded in death by her parents Lester Redmiles and Gladys Juanita (Brown) Redmiles, her brother Lester Redmiles, sister Shirley Albena (Redmiles) Motel and husband Peter Motel, and her sister Gloria (Redmiles) Rogers.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Macular Degeneration Association or the American Cancer Society.

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