Esther Sluder

Esther Marie Hewett Sluder was born at home in Greenwood, Arkansas, on October 19, 1933. The doctor was late but still received payment of a small heifer. Esther Marie's momma, Ruby, was mad because "he was late getting here and I already did all the work." She grew up in the area and one of her favorite summer pastimes was swimming at the local strip pit. Her mother warned her about swimming across the strip pit because it was so awfully deep, but as soon as her mother's back was turned, she and her little brother, William, took off.
She met and married her husband, Clarence Sluder, in Houston, Texas. He was a returning Veteran of the Korean War. Eventually, they became the first generation of their respective families to settle in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Esther Marie had a notoriously good green thumb. She could bury a stick in the ground and make it bloom. She was also notorious about pinching seeds and starts wherever she went. Once on a visit to Washington State, her kids took her to the Lake Quinault Rain Forest. Their cries of "Momma, that won't grow in Arkansas" and "Momma, you're going to get us arrested" went unheeded. We called her... the pincher.
She loved her children: Wayne (Rhonda), Sherry, Kathy (Lonny) and Mike (Kylie). She loved her grandkids: Shawn (Gary), John, Jake, Phoebe and Paige. She loved her great-grandchildren: Sam and Scott. But there was no one she loved as much as she loved her Pomeranians: Betsy, Peppy and Toughie.
Just as she was born at home, she passed away at home on March 14, 2017, surrounded by her little dogs. A private graveside service was held at the National Veterans' Cemetery where she was laid to rest next to her husband. Of the Pentecostal faith, we like to think about her swimming across the strip pit with her little brother, William, with only the blue sky overhead and all the darkness behind her.