Esther Huriaux

ESTHER L. HURIAUX

Iowa City

Esther Lorene Huriaux, 91, of Iowa City, formerly of Chevy Chase, Md., passed away Tuesday, June 23, 2015, at the Mercy Hospital Hospice Unit in Iowa City.

Born Aug. 26, 1923, in Washington, D.C., Esther was the daughter of Lorene Shepherd Brown and Lester Mahon Yost. She grew up on New Hampshire Avenue in the Petworth neighborhood of D.C., with her mother and maternal grandparents, Lorin Andrews Brown and Martha Alice Shepherd Brown, who had built the house. She graduated from Roosevelt High School and trained for teaching at Wilson Teachers College. She married Adolphe P. Huriaux on May 31, 1944, in Takoma Park, Md. He preceded her in death on June 29, 2007.

After the birth of three children and the death of her grandmother, everyone moved from Petworth to their newly built home in Chevy Chase, Md., in 1951, when Esther was just 28 years old. She lived there for the next 64 years.

Esther was born in the age of the eggman, iceboxes and coal furnaces. Her first job was sewing corsets. She went into real estate and became a Realtor and broker in a family business. She was one of the first women appraisers in the D.C. area. She prided herself on fair and careful appraisals for veterans seeking loans to buy a home.

During her career, Esther was a member of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers (senior member), National Association of Real Estate boards, Maryland Association of Realtors and member and director of the Montgomery County, Md., board of Realtors. She also was a member of the Twenty Club – 20 women from her 1944 class at Wilson Teachers College, who have continued to gather once a month for lunch since then. She grew up in Columbia Heights Christian Church, which became North Chevy Chase Christ-ian Church.

Even at age 91, Esther continued to look at fashions and catalogs and make wardrobe suggestions. Her memory stretched back to the poems she learned growing up. She loved music and dancing and sang along to 1940s Big Band numbers all her life.

Esther Lorene Huriaux is survived by her children, Richard (Helen) Huriaux of Baltimore, Terye (Royce) Van Sanford of Phoenix, Ariz., Adolphe (Lisa) Huriaux of Ellicott City, Md., and Sharyn Huriaux Reitz (John) of Iowa City. Her grandchildren are Emalie Huriaux (Tom Connolly) of El Cerrito, Calif., Erich (Connie) Van Sanford of Chandler, Ariz., Dianna Van Sanford of Flagstaff, Ariz., Christopher (Jill) Reitz of Olympia, Wash., and Benjamin (Jing Qiao) Reitz of Chicago. Her great-grand-children are Anais Connolly-Huriaux and Anthony, Timothy and Victoria Van Sanford.

Esther was welcomed into the Iowa City community by the members of Congregational United Church of Christ and the Rev. William Lovin, and the staff and residents of Melrose Meadows. The family appreciates the gentle care of the staff of the Mercy Hospital Hospice Unit and Iowa City Hospice.

Private family services will be at St. Paul's Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C., on July 8. Arrangements are with Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, Iowa City, where online condolences may be sent to www. lensingfuneral.com.