Esther Mae Eicher, 90, of Brewster, died Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, at the Logan County Hospital, Oakley. She was born Jan. 15, 1930, in Thomas County, Kansas, to Harry and Lois (McArthur) Eicher.
Esther graduated from Colby High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She went on to receive a Master’s in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Esther spent her professional career ensuring that children received proper nutrition. She worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Denver before being selected to assist with implementation of a Head Start nutrition program in Washington, D.C.
She was living a few blocks north of the Capitol during the impeachment process against Richard M. Nixon and had lifelong memories of people being extra nice to each other on the bus during that time of unrest.
She decided to return to Colorado after a couple of years in Washington, and there she monitored the nutritional content of school lunches and helped launch the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children as part of the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
She also frequently traveled to reservations in Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota to help with nutrition education efforts for Native American mothers and children. She met tribal chiefs she never forgot.
By 1989, she was working as the regional nutrition director for the FNS Mountain Plains Regional Office, but she decided to give up her career to take care of her aging parents. She moved back to the farm near Brewster, where she grew up.
From that time forward, she lived primarily on the farm. Near the end of her life, her nephew, Eric, came to stay there with her, so that she could live for as long as medically possible in the home that she loved.
Although she never married and had no children, she maintained close relationships with her many nieces and nephews and their families.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Kenneth Eicher; sisters, Lillian Buckner and Edith Taylor; nieces, Lee Ann Taylor and Maril Taylor; and nephews, Allan Taylor, Harry Taylor, Michael Warren Eicher and Dennis Buckner; and her beloved dog, Tobie.
She is survived by her brother Curtis Eicher and wife Beverly, of Colby; and nieces and nephews, Jon (Reva) Eicher, of Maize; Greg Eicher (Paul Black, of Portland, Ore.; Susan Eicher, of Lafayette, Ind.; Mary (Doug) Olson, of Palmer, Alaska; Brian (Sherrie) Eicher, of Brewster; Tom (Kristie) Taylor, of Minden, Neb.; Bill Taylor, of Colby; Rob Taylor, of Colby; Lois (Leland) Francis, of Wilson; Sue Taylor, of Colby; Kris Taylor, of Salina; David (Sandy) Buckner, of Boulder, Colo.; Eric (Vanessa) Eicher, of Lawrence; and Erin (Randy) Mathews, of Salina.
No services are scheduled. Esther supported many animal and human welfare causes and environmental conservation organizations. Please make a gift in her memory to your favorite organization. For information or condolences visit www.baalmannmortuary.com