Elena Margaret Kester went to rest with her King on Saturday, March 17th, at age 59. She passed away peacefully at St. Joseph Hospital with her loving family by her side.

Elena was a widow to Larry Kester, and was preceded in death by her father, Peter Gleed, and mother, Nora Mcall. She was survived by her sister Erika and brother Clive as well as her four children Peter, James, Katherine and Patricia.

Elena was born in 1959 in Oakland and lived in Northern California most her life. She attended Laytonville High School, where she met her husband and four years later began to start a family. She lived in many small towns off the coast but raised her four children in Orick. Elena eventually moved to Eureka, where she lived the remaining 15 years of her life.

Elena knew many people and was loved by everyone who knew her. A day wouldn’t go by that you wouldn’t see her walking through town from one end to the other, probably holding a cup of coffee or smoking a cigarette, but most definitely with a fine-toothed comb in her back pocket. Her sister-in-law remembers the old days of rock and roll music, Led Zepplin, and The Eagles, some of Elena’s most favorite. No matter what her struggles were she always managed to be kind, polite and proper. And never without a smile on her face.

Although she was fighting everyday within herself, she has finally found her peace and is laid to rest. RIP Elena Kester. You were loved by many, and your spirit lives on in all of us.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Elena Kester’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.