Jan 21, 1922 - March 5, 2007

Esther Charlotte (Rider) Maharry was born to Roy Franklin Rider and Emma Jane (Walker) Rider, January 21, 1922 in Cartwright, North Dakota. Esther was born at home and had 13 other brothers and sisters, four of which died very young. Esther grew up being the seventh child. The family lived in Cartwright until Esther was six and then they moved to a farm in Fairview, North Dakota. Esther attended a one room school until she was in the 6th grade when a 2 room schoolhouse was built. In the winter the snow was so deep that her father would go ahead of the kids and make a path in the snow so they wouldn’t get lost. One day when she was 12, everyone was gone except her and her baby sister. A bad storm came up and lightening struck and burnt out the radio which caused the house to fill with smoke. Esther got her sister and ran upstairs. Until the day she died she was very afraid of thunder storms.
In 1943 Esther joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and was trained at the army air base in Battle Creek, Michigan. When this group was absorbed by the Women’s Army Corps, she resigned and went to Tulelake, California to visit her sister, Ethel. Ethel was married to Floyd Maharry who had a brother, Vern. One day Vern came to Ethel and Floyd's for a visit and Esther, was peeking out the bedroom door, too shy to come out and meet Vern. But Vern did invite her to go muskrat trapping with him the next day and told her where to show up. She showed up and held on to his feet as he checked his traps on the steep banks of the ditches. Vern decided any girl who was willing to come with him trapping muskrats would make a good wife. Esther’s brother was killed in an automobile accident and so Ethel, Floyd and Vern and Esther were driving to North Dakota for the funeral. When they were going through Elko, Nevada, Floyd said to Vern “That’s a good woman. You should marry her”. So he did. That was April 16th, 1946 They lived in the Tulelake, California area for about 3 years. During that time their daughter, Charlene Jane, was born on July 24, 1947 in Klamath Falls, OR. Vern’s brother, Alfred, got a homestead in Southern Arizona at Gadsden, right on the Mexican boarder, and invited Vern to help him with a farm there in 1949. The two families went off to Arizona to develop the farm. On the trip they took their car as well as their truck. The truck was towing the car, but when they came to hills that were too steep, Esther would get out and start the car and help push the truck up the hills. Life was pretty primitive there living in a little shed with no inside plumbing and cracks that you could see the stars through but eventually they were able to build a house.
Charlene was about 2 years old when they moved to Arizona and Vern decided that she needed to be taken to church for religious training. They went to the nearest town, Somerton, AZ. They decided that they would drive around all the churches and the church that had the oldest and most beat up cars would be the one they would attend. That turned out to be the First Baptist Church of Somerton. After attending there several weeks an announcement was in the bulletin for a grounds keeper, so Vern decided that he could do that job and earn a little extra money. The pastor took a liking to Vern and spent many hours with him sharing about God’s love for him and his need of a personal relationship with Jesus. Vern learned that he was a sinner and the only way he could have a right relationship with God was to accept the sacrifice that Jesus had made for his sin on the cross. He decided to give his life to Jesus and live for Him the rest of his life. Esther had made that decision many years before, but she came to know the assurance of that decision she had made. She had been raised in a church that had taught she could lose that salvation any time she sinned and so she had rejected the church. Now she had the joy of knowing that she was saved and her Christian life was much more meaningful.
When Esther was younger she had dated a young man who said that he wanted to become a preacher and she wanted nothing more to do with him. When she met Vern, he wanted to be a farmer so that was OK. Well, God has a sense of humor because Vern became a preacher and the former boyfriend became a farmer. Vern has not lost his love of farming to this day.
Soon Vern’s ability to preach became evident and the church in Somerton would ask him to preach from time to time. There was a mission church started at the Air Force Base in Yuma called Mesa Vista Mission and they asked Vern to come and be their pastor. For three years he did that. On August 5, 1955 God blessed Vern and Esther with a son, Charles. About this time Vern decided that he needed to attend a Bible College and become better prepared if he was going to be a pastor, so they moved to Phoenix where Vern attend Arizona Bible College for three years. After completing his training they were called to pastor a church just west of Phoenix, Palo Verde Baptist Church. This church was in the middle of a farming community so they felt quite at home. This was a pretty stable community without much coming and going so after 4 ½ years Vern felt that he had taught them everything he knew and it was time for a change. They moved down the road to Gila Bend, Arizona. This was a tourist town and also had an Air Force Base so there were lots of new people coming and going. They ministered in this church for 8 years before accepting a call to First Baptist Church in Page, Arizona. Page was a new town built when Glen Canyon Dam was constructed. There had only been one pastor before them and many people coming and going. Then the Navajo Generating Station was built bringing in a whole new group of people. The Maharrys enjoyed ministering there for 17 years before Vern decided that it was time for him to retire.
In all these churches they lived in the parsonage next to the church, but while in Page they bought some land and built their own home. Vern and Esther remained in Page for six years after they retired. They decided it would be good to live closer to family and medical facilities. They found some property in Cottonwood, AZ near where their son Charles lived and moved there. Their daughter, Charlene was living in Flagstaff, AZ so their family was close by. As of this July they have lived in Cottonwood for 12 years.
Everywhere they lived Vern and Esther always had a garden and Esther always planted flowers and made each home beautiful. Esther was usually the church janitor to bring some extra income. Esther also taught Sunday School and worked in VBS and Awana programs at the churches. Esther was a very hard worker and loved caring for her husband and family. They appreciated all the hard work that she gave on their behalf. She had a huge influence in the spiritual training of her children and was the one who was there when both Charlene and Charles made the decision to follow Christ.
In 1999 Esther broke her hip and that really slowed her down. Her hip was never quite right and she just couldn’t do the things she once did. In 2006 she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She had a lot of medical problems in the last year and then in January of 2007 she started a sharp decline in her health. On Monday evening March 5th at 9:30 PM she went home to be with her Lord. She was at home when she died and her husband, son and daughter were with her. Today she is rejoicing in heaven.