Estere (Nelson) Newacheck of Orinda, Calif., died peacefully Sept. 12, 2015, at age 100. She had been in declining health for several months but was alert and talkative until just hours before her passing. Estere was born Esther Ruth Nelson in Madison, S.D., on Feb. 18, 1915. She was the daughter of the Rev. Alfred Nelson and Marie (Pederson) Nelson. Her older brother, Edward Nelson, M.D., of Minneapolis died many years ago. Esther lived in Madison until about age 7 when her father accepted a call to a parish in Cashton, Wis., where he served until his death in 1939. At that time, her mother, Marie, moved back to the Pederson family home in Hatton, N.D., taking Esther with her. Marie remained in the home until her death in 1981.

About the same time, Esther started college at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She transferred to the University of Wisconsin at Madison because Luther did not have a dietetics major. She graduated from Wisconsin and was accepted for graduate work at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, but moved to Chicago instead to pursue a career as a dietitian. While in Chicago, her independent streak led her to change the spelling of her name from Esther to Estere so she could be different.

The same independent streak led her to pick up and travel to California with her best friend, Alma Swenson. They rented an apartment in the Marina in San Francisco and Estere began a career as a dietitian with Safeway in Oakland. One evening after work she went to a dance at the Berkeley Women’s Club and met John Newacheck. After a brief courtship, John and Estere were married in San Francisco in 1949. The couple purchased a lot in Orinda and built a home on it over the years, with help from John’s brother, Dick. Shortly after they were married, Estere quit her job at Safeway to become a homemaker.

John and Estere raised two children, David and Jeanne. While John worked, Estere spent her days keeping house and making sure the kids thrived in school. She was also very involved with her church. After the children were grown, John retired from Chevron, and the couple spent their time travelling and tending to their gardens at their Orinda home. John died in 2009, and Estere moved to assisted living in Moraga and finally to skilled nursing in Castro Valley, near her son, David and his wife Dorthea. Estere’s daughter, Jeanne died in 2008. Estere is survived by David and Dorthea of Castro Valley, her son-in-law Dan Camacho of Windsor, her granddaughter Christine Camacho of Windsor and by many nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews.

Memorial services were held Oct. 2, 2015, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Lafayette, Calif.