Obituary of Esther Mary JORDISON

Esther was born and raised in the small town of Redcliff, just outside of Medicine Hat. During the war, she worked in the glass factory and eventually married Alec Bollinger. The young couple moved to Foremost, Alberta and had two children, Barry and Sheryl. In the early 1950’s the family moved to Calgary, where Esther spent the remainder of her life. When Alec died suddenly in 1960, Esther opened a small coffee shop and worked long, hard hours to support her children. In 1968, she spent several memorable weeks touring Europe with her son Barry, just before his untimely and tragic passing at age 19. A few years later, Esther met and married Bob Jordison, and retired shortly after. During that time she travelled to Phoenix every winter and took many other trips to Hawaii, Mexico, the Orient, Alaska, and the Bahamas. For many years, her passion was Duplicate Bridge and she attended several national and international tournaments, eventually becoming a Silver Life Master. Esther was a truly amazing woman and a real survivor who remained strong, sharp and independent right to the end. She always chose to see the best in everyone, so she made friends easily wherever she went, many of whom remained lifelong friends. But nothing was more important to Esther than her family, especially her grandchildren who she loved to entertain with her stories, life lessons and unfiltered words of wisdom. In the early hours of September 17th, just a few weeks after her 93rd birthday, Esther went gently into the night. She was pre-deceased by two husbands, Alec Bollinger and Robert Jordison, her beloved son Barry, and all of her siblings: Margie, Roy and Art Rexin, and Helen Knodel. She leaves behind her daughter, Sheryl Hamilton (nee Bollinger), her grandson Bill, her grand-daughter Jaimie (Dave), several nieces and nephews, former son-in-law Bill Hamilton (Agnes), as well as numerous friends and bridge partners. “As you go through life no matter what you do or how you do it, you leave a little footprint, and that’s your legacy.” To Esther, our beloved mother, grandmother, wife, sister and friend – thank you for the many footprints you’ve left on our hearts. As per Esther’s request, there will be no funeral service. A private gathering will be held at a later date. Condolences may be forwarded through www.calgarycrematorium.com In lieu of flowers, we ask that you simply ‘pay it forward’ and do something nice for an elderly friend, family member or neighbor.