Esther was born in Larned to Ruby and Ed Peterson on January 23, 1920. She had three brothers, Lee, Loyd, and Donel, all of whom have preceded her in death. She spent most of her childhood in Kinsley, Kansas, graduating from Kinsley High School in 1938 and went on to attend two years at Kansas State University, majoring in Home Economics.
Esther and Claud were married on June 21, 1941. They started their family about a year later with the birth of Donald Dean, followed by Carol Ann four years later and Jon Scott eight years after that. The family lived in Dodge City and Hutchinson before moving to Wichita. In 1957, they moved into their home on Emerson, where they lived until moving into Compassionate Care West, where she lived her remaining four and a half years.
While family always came first, Esther enjoyed playing piano, quilting, being involved with EHU, having daily coffee with her neighbors, and taking a daily walk at the mall. She and Claud liked to travel the country, and enjoyed taking their grandkids on day trips throughout Kansas.
Esther is survived by her husband of 74 years, Claud DeWitt; children Don DeWitt (Margaret), Carol Bacon (Tom), and Scott DeWitt (Janna) all of Wichita; grandchildren include Deirdre Newcomer (Brad) of Overland Park, Nicole Cox (Aaron), Kimberly Gilchrist (Jeff), Zach DeWitt (Julie),and David Bacon (Marci) all of Wichita; great grandchildren include Brenden, Logan, and Ashley Newcomer, Caity and Braeden Morris, Dylan Cox, Abby, Lizzy, and Jo DeWitt, Jayden and Jaxson Gilchrist, Kaitlyn and Dylan Shaw, Morgan Bacon. Great grandchild Lucas Bacon preceded her in death.