Esther Claris (Dawson) Buchanan was born near Ulysses, Kan. on Oct. 28, 1923, the seventh of eight children born to Fredrick and Esther Dawson. She passed away at the Logan Manor in Logan, Kan. on Aug. 1, 2019.

She grew up in western Kansas working to help the family make ends meet and graduating from Garden City High School in 1941. Over the next 14 years she worked and lived in Florida, Massachusetts, California, Colorado and Utah but always returned to her beloved home state.

Since 1954 and until recently her home was in Great Bend, Kan. It was here that she felt most comfortable, raising her children, teaching bible classes at the First Christian Church and participating in community causes and was a member of the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce.

She was an avid reader and jumped at the opportunity to work in the Treasure Chest Book Shop. After eight years of learning the nuances of business and customer relations she bought the store and was its proprietor until it closed in 2001.

She will be remembered for her concern for others, her love of the printed word, her ability to see and teach the beauty in all things around her and her dedication to her family and friends and their well being.  

She is pre-deceased by her parents, her four sisters and three brothers.

Esther is survived by two sons, three daughters, nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

It was Esther’s wish that any remembrances be given to the Salvation Army in lieu of flowers. A private family memorial will be held at a later date.

Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Aug. 4, 2019