Cora Ethel Kesterson

Services for Cora Ethel (Proffitt) Kesterson, 94, of Anchorage, AK, formerly of Wickliffe, will be at 11 AM on Monday, September 23, 2013 at Covenant Baptist Church, 28930 Ridge Road, Wickliffe, followed by graveside services at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Bedford Heights.

The family will receive friends from 4-8 PM on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at Davis-Babcock Funeral Home, 4154 Clark Avenue, Willoughby. Members of Order of the Eastern Star Willoughby Chapter 202 will conduct services at 7:30 PM on Sunday at the funeral home.

Mrs. Kesterson passed away in her sleep on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at her daughter’s home in Anchorage, Alaska, following a heart attack on September 4, 2013.

Cora was born December 25, 1918 to Reuben Bailer and Dora Belle (Philpot) Proffitt in Portersburg, KY. She left Kentucky early during World War II for Detroit where she worked helping assemble B-52 bombers. After the war she moved to Dayton, OH where she met her soon to be husband Henry “Roy” Kesterson at work. They married in June 1949 and moved to Cleveland, settling in Wickliffe to raise their family. A wonderful and loving wife and mother, she stayed home to take care of the household and children. She enjoyed cooking for her family and friends and friends of her children. Cora was an active member of the Covenant Baptist church in Wickliffe and of the Order of the Eastern Star, Willoughby Chapter 202.

After Roy’s death in 1993 she spent time with her grandchildren and working in her garden, remaining active with her Church and the Eastern Star. Cora travelled to Alaska for a month every year to visit her daughter, Linda. In 2005, she moved to Alaska to live with her, and the two of them travelled back to Ohio for a month nearly every year to visit her son Larry and his wife Pat and the extended family.

She is survived by her daughter, Linda Kesterson; son, Larry (Patricia) Kesterson; granddaughters, Jennifer (Christopher) Piccirillo and Jessica Kesterson; great-grandsons, Dominic and Michael Piccirillo; sister, Minnie (Rolly) West and many loving and beloved nieces and nephews and their families.

Cora was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Henry L. Kesterson; and an infant son; brothers, Charles (Mae) Proffitt and Virgil Proffitt; sisters, Nora (Clyde) Freeman, Bertha (James) Thompson, Nancy (Woodson) Johnson and Elsie (Dave) Ball.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Cora’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska, 1750 Abbott Road, Anchorage, AK 99507 or to the Covenant Baptist Church, 28930 Ridge Rd. Wickliffe, OH 44092.

Please visit Cora’s obituary and online guestbook at www.davisbabcock.com