Esther Zeline Martineau, 90, of Williamsburg, passed away January 9, 2024, with her 4 children by her side. Born to the late Charles and Juliette (Kaiser) Morrison on April 30, 1933 in Traverse City.  Esther graduated from Elk Rapids High School in 1951.

She married the late Ralph R. Martineau in 1961, and they lived together at her childhood home, the centennial cherry farm, Seven Gables, near Elk Rapids, for over 60 years.  Esther is survived by her four children: Marty, Brian, Julie and Brett, as well as her beloved cousins.

Esther was blessed with an innate artistic eye and a deep appreciation for beauty.  Throughout her life, she found ways to channel these attributes both professionally and personally, including working for F.A. Earl Jewelers in downtown Traverse City and designing creative window displays for a number of area businesses.  And for many years, she also created floral arrangements for Sacred Heart Church in Elk Rapids.

On the topic of floral arrangements, her family still gets a kick out of the time that she had entered several floral arrangements in an Elk Rapids garden club competition.  As they were leaving home, her husband, Ralph, asked why she wasn't taking the arrangement still sitting on the kitchen table.  This centerpiece had sat on the table for days and was never intended to be entered in the show.  Nonetheless, she agreed to bring it along with the others.  While all of her arrangements received ribbons, it was only this very last-minute arrangement that would receive the tri-color ribbon "best in show" honors.

Esther also loved interior design and antiques.  And over the years, their centennial farm was featured in several area tour of homes. In mid-life, and despite no shortage of naysayers, she would realize her long-standing dream of turning their farm's historical outbuilding, a granary, into a seasonal gift shop, selling a variety of her "favorite things", including specialty food products, seasonal live flowers, clothing, jewelry, antiques and much more.   Esther would often jokingly say that as a child, she grew up "playing in the granary" and all these decades later, she "was still playing in the granary", as the business continued to thrive.

Her creative flair and appreciation for beauty was also evident in her fashion sense.  A self-described "clothes horse", it wasn't uncommon for customers to say that they looked forward to coming "just to see what Esther was wearing".

But a "farm girl" at heart, she considered herself so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see so much of the world with her husband and children, including several trips to Europe, Hawaii, multiple island cruises, Mexico and many cross-country US family trips by car.

Her children will always credit their mother with instilling in them the all-important need for a very healthy sense of humor - and perhaps most needed in the darkest of times.  Indeed, she and her children relied heavily on this "trick" in recent days to better cope with her declining health. And remembering their mom's positive outlook on life in the face of adversity helps boost them up as they deal with their immense loss - whom at least one of them has simply described as "the best person they ever knew".

Finally, her children also take great comfort in knowing that she and her husband of more than 60 years, Ralph, are undoubtedly together once again.

The family is planning for a spring service with the support of Beacon Funeral Home of Elk Rapids.