Esther Boyt

Esther The Candy Lady went to be with her Lord and Savior on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Visitation and service at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Saturday January 23 at 10:30am. Mrs. Esther W. Boyt, n Obersat(1933-2016)Esther Wilma Boyt was born on March 11, 1933 in Aukschpamedschen, Lithuania to parents Leo and Berta Obersat. She was the oldest of seven children, with three sisters: Ruth, Erika, Sigrid, and three brothers: Ewald, Siegfried and Adam.Her father was a gifted craftsman, a successful blacksmith and carpenter who provided well for his family. He designed and built the first concrete house in the whole district of Kelme in Lithuania, Esthers childhood home. Esthers mother was a creative, trained female tailor and housewife caring for and raising the children. Both of her parents were devout Christians bringing up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord. Up until the start of World War II in 1939 Esther lived a happy early childhood in affluence.Esther started off as one of the numerous grandchildren of a fiery preacher, Josef Schwartz, with his own denomination in Lithuania who was also owner of a huge farming estate.Consequently Esther began her school career at a private boarding school which unfortunately was interrupted after one year because of the events of World War II when the family was relocated to a refugee camp in German occupied Poland for 2 years and Lithuania became a Soviet Republic. After Hitlers attack on the Soviet Union they were allowed back to Lithuania and Esther could continue her schooling in the boarding school for another 2 years when her schooling came to an end (for good) and the family was forced out of Lithuania a second time by the advancing Red Army (USSR) in 1944 never to return.Esther had already one brother and three sisters and was in charge of looking after them, her father being a disabled war veteran and her mother suffering from an untreated brain tumor and pregnant with the sixth child. In this way Esther was catapulted into early adulthood at the age of eleven.The family became part of that infamous refugee trek westward of 7 million Germans from the East at the end of World War II in 1944-1945. The refugees bounced around from village to village to avoid detection from the Russian soldiers invading the area at the time. Esther witnessed unspeakable brutalities of a vengeful enemy, cruel images she could never forget. As a result, toward the end of this time Esther became sick with tremors. She was evacuated by the Red Cross which separated her from the family for six months. At the age of 11, she was forced to take care of herself by working in the cucumber fields and other such tasks. One of her very poignant memories during this time, Esther recalls how she taught a little girl about the catechism in exchange for the little girls shoes, before she was reunited with her family again.In 1945, her family relocated to Hartenland (Mecklenburg), Germany, which was on the Russian side of Germany at that time. Her family lived in a home there, and when the Russian soldiers came through the village they would hide in the woods. These were hard and lean times for her family. Esther vividly recalls picking berries one afternoon, and getting stopped by a Russian soldier. He drew his gun on her, and forced her to retreat. Fortunately, she was not injured, but still vividly remembers that day. A happier memory Esther recalled during this period was the birth of her youngest brother Adam. Upon his birth, she got to give her baby brother his first bath.In 1948, together with her father, Esther pioneered the secret escape of the family to West Berlin. After a dangerous journey crossing the border to escape the Russians the family was finally stranded in Baden-Wuerttemberg in 1950. During this time Esther worked as a housekeeper in Tubingen and in a factory in Pfullingen to help provide for the family. In 1952 she moved to Reutlingen to live with her parents and worked in a local factory.Stigmatized as strange homeless refugees, it was hard for the family to integrate in society there so that the two oldest girls in their twenties could hardly socialize to find partners for life. It was here in 1956 where Esther and her sister Ruth decided to stop at a local caf. Here, Esther met a handsome American GI and fell in love at first sight. His name was James Boyt. Also, her sister Ruth found an American soldier. In 1957 they both got married in Germany and followed their husbands to the United States to become U.S. citizens leaving behind the family where their father had died in a traffic accident the same year. While her sister Ruth found her place in the East of the USA, Esther followed her husband to Louisiana, James first duty station in Fort Polk. One of the fondest memories during their first year in the U.S. was eating armadillo for Christmas. They traveled around to different duty stations for the next 12 years, even making it back to Germany again. In 1970, James retired from the military and moved to the wiregrass.Finally now life was opening up for them so they thought only to be shocked by the doctors diagnosis that James had developed Parkinson due to his time in the war in Vietnam and Korea. At that time, Parkinson was not recognized as an effect from the war, so hard times were felt again.Esther worked as a seamstress at Kleinerts sewing factory in Elba. James and Esther became involved in their church, Christ the King Lutheran Church (enterpriselutheran.org). During the long hardship with Jim she found a new family with the congregation. In particular, after her husbands death in 1999, Esther was vital volunteering in the church office, went on shut-in calls, visited and sang at nursing homes, and was a prayer warrior. She was a mother, sister, friend, grandma, and great grandma to all the members. She was affectionately known as the Candy Lady. In the last few years, Esther also volunteered at Dayspring Hospice helping make crafts and cards for the patients.With the help of the God, she could turn every hardship (and those were numerous) into a blessing for her and (in particular for) the people around her.Esther the Candy Lady went to be with her Lord and Savior on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.Esther was proceeded in death by her loving husband James, her parents Leo (as mentioned) and Berta Obersat, her sister Ruth Jones, two brothers Ewald and Siegfried Obersat, and one niece Katrin Obersat.Esther is survived by her sisters Sigrid (Harald) Obersat and Erika Obersat, brother Adam (Iris) Obersat as well as cousins, nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Esther Boyt, please visit our flower store.