Obituary of Esther Marcella Mayoh

Esther Marcella (Dobbins) Mayoh went to be with her Lord and Savior on February 22, 2023, from Olympia, Washington.  She was 95 years old.  Esther was born the fourth of ten children at home on the prairie in Calhan, Colorado, in 1927.  Times were hard for her parents, Verda and Clarence Dobbins, who were farmers. Esther remembered scrubbing clothes on a washboard when she was four years old. 

 

Esther attended school in a one-room schoolhouse, where the teacher taught all eight grades. The nearest church was 40 miles away, so she learned about God and Jesus from her mother, who read the Bible and Bible stories to her. When Esther was eight years old, her grandparents took her to a Quaker church, where she received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  When she was 12, her family moved west to Cheney, Washington, where she attended junior and senior high schools, graduating high school in 1946.

 

Esther wanted to serve God and felt a strong call to be a missionary, so she enrolled at Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Oregon.  However, she ended up falling in love with a young man who was studying for the ministry, Bill Mayoh.  Esther ended up earning a BA in Religious Education and becoming a pastor’s wife in June 1953.  She and Bill served several churches in Oregon, where their first child was born.  They moved to Indiana, where Bill enrolled in Seminary.  During their five years in Indiana, two more children were born.

 

In 1960, Esther and her family moved to Cheney, where she had grown up, to serve the church. She and Bill also continued their education at Eastern Washington State College.  Esther received her second BA in Elementary Education.  In 1963, Esther and family moved to Chehalis, Washington, where they lived the next 13 years.  She very much enjoyed church activities, raising her children, and gardening, both vegetables and flowers.

 

In 1976, Esther and Bill moved to Olympia, where she worked at St. Martin’s College as a switchboard operator.  A later job was teaching pre-school at a daycare.  Years later, she had a Bible study at her home for the neighborhood children, and she volunteered at the nearby elementary school.

 

In her retirement, she and Bill traveled to Italy, where her second daughter lived.  They also visited Bill’s family in England. 

 

In 2003, Esther and Bill celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary.  Shortly afterwards, Esther became her husband’s caregiver as his Parkinson’s disease had taken its toll.  In 2008, Bill entered Panorama Convalescent Center.  Esther visited every day.  They read the Bible, prayed, and sang hymns together.  The staff asked Esther if she would do weekly devotions with the residents as well.  Even after her husband passed away, she continued devotions with the residents for seven more years.

 

Esther truly was a missionary at heart.  She so enjoyed reading the reports of the missions and ministries she supported for many years.

 

Esther was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Mayoh; and five siblings.  She is survived by her children, Gloria Mayoh, Kathryn Mayoh-Bella, David Mayoh; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

 

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, April 29, 2023, 11:00 a.m. at Timberline Baptist Church, 6628 Mullen Road SE, Lacey, WA 98503.

 

Memorial Gifts may be sent to:

Chosen People Ministries

241 E 51st St.

New York, NY 10022

-online by clicking HERE

-by phone 1-888-293-7482

 

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