It is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of the pillar and prayer warrior of our family–Esther Lavinia Louise Porter (Cummings) of Meductic, NB, on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at the age of 92.

She was born in Dow Settlement, NB, on September 27, 1930, to the late Bertram and Elizabeth (McLellan) Cummings.

Besides her parents, she was predeceased by her first husband Fred McLellan and her second husband Allison Porter as well as sisters Phyllis Smith, Myrtle Tompkins, Mary Collicott and Jean Lloyd, and brothers Woodrow, Raymond, Burdette, Ralph and Russell Cummings.

Esther is survived and already missed by the following: children James (Eleanor), Helen (Robert) and Neil (Kimberly), grandchildren Melissa, Jonathan, Michelle, Joshua and Jordan; seven great-grandchildren; brother Neil (Freda), sister Ruth Howland, sister-in-law Reta Cummings as well as many nieces and nephews.

The faithfulness and total dependency on God flowed over into every aspect of Esther's life. Her love and gratefulness for God's goodness resulted in a life of servanthood to God, family and others.

Born in Dow Settlement and raised in Riceville, she graduated from Meductic High School in the spring of 1946 and immediately entered the classroom without having received her training. She went to New Brunswick Teachers' College in the new year, trading off with the teachers who went the first half of the year.

She married Fred and moved to Weston, NB, in 1953. She continued her love for teaching children at the Lindsay Baptist Church and became famous for her flannelgraph stories. There was always an open-door policy in their home (with no plumbing). She always decorated the inside of the outhouse with pine branches and other things to make the best of a hard situation. When Fred would unexpectedly send word up from the mill that there was company coming for supper, she could kill, clean and pluck a chicken in no time to make sure there was food for everyone.

After fifteen married years, Fred passed away from a heart attack while working in the woods. After much prayer and trust, Esther and her three children began a new chapter in Meductic.

Esther went to work at her brother Ralph's store. She was not there to simply run the store for Ralph. Esther found a balance between working for Ralph, helping others and serving God by giving advice on better food choices for people with limited budgets, weighing babies on the scale, recruiting children for Sunday School and running a Sunday morning bus service in the old Pontiac. Many evenings were spent in Woodstock taking a bookkeeping course to help run the store, pottery class and typing class. Her cake decorating course resulted in the making of hundreds of birthday cakes and many wedding cakes.

Even with her many years of service in the church (Sunday School teacher, church teller, Women's Missionary Society, social committee, finance committee, Willing Worker's, quilting and many more), she found time to serve for nineteen years as a volunteer on the Saint John Ambulance. After sixteen years in Meductic and fourteen years of courting, she finally said yes to Allison Porter (only after raising her three children). They shared twenty-one years together.

After living alone for twelve years, Esther spent her last seven years living with her son and daughter-in-law. What a blessing she was to them! After daily bathing the household and extended family in prayer, she received Jesus' call at home with family at her side and grandchildren on the phone.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, December 4, at the Carleton Funeral Home, 337 Lockhart Mill Road, Jacksonville, NB, from 3 to 5 p.m.

Funeral service will be held on Monday, December 5, at 2 p.m. at the Carleton Funeral Home Chapel.

Interment will be in the Lindsay Baptist Cemetery in the spring.

If so desired, donations in Esther's memory can be made to the Lindsay Cemetery.

The service will be broadcasted live. For viewing, please register with Forget Me Not Ceremonies https://event.forgetmenotceremonies.com/ceremony?c=5ac6a4c7-7d29-4a23-8c4c-b212b18fbff3

If for any reason you have any issues getting registered, please call Forget Me Not Ceremonies at 1-877-895-2739.