Esta Lee Turner (formerly Cravens and Chandler), of Diamond, Missouri died on February 14, 2019 at the age of 88.
Esta Lee was born in Hartville, Missouri on June 6, 1930 to Luther and Chrissie (Coday) Cravens. She lived in Hartville all of her young life before marrying Jack Chandler in 1948. Jack died in 1959 during an on-the-job accident. Esta Lee later married Roy Turner, of Diamond, Missouri, in 1964. Roy died in 1997.
Esta Lee had three siblings: Donnie Cravens, who lives in Texas; Kay Cravens Crumpley, who died in 2014; and Sue Cravens Green, who lives in Noel, Missouri. She is survived by her two sons, Jay Chandler of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Jack Chandler of Bandera, Texas, and four step-daughters: Connie Martin of Carthage, Missouri; Sherry Blunt of Ozark, Missouri; Linda Vaini of Springfield, Missouri; and Debbie Gaston of Springfield, Missouri.
Esta Lee came from a long line of musicians. Nearly all of her Cravens family loved to sing, and all who knew Esta Lee marveled at her piano playing, which she began to do as a small child without having any lessons. She had the uncanny ability to hear a tune and then play it. Esta Lee loved her Nazarene Church in Sarcoxie, Missouri, which she attended faithfully since moving to Diamond, Missouri in 1964. She was the church’s piano player at that time, and served in several other capacities, including as Treasurer. Prior to moving to Diamond, Esta Lee was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene in Springfield, Missouri, where she played the piano for years as well. She was also the piano player for several groups who sang Southern Gospel music, her favorite. One such group was the Harmonaires, which recorded an album in the 1960s.
During her 33-year marriage to Roy Turner, Esta Lee served as the bookkeeper and parts manager for Roy’s auto mechanic business. Esta Lee also loved her vegetable garden in Diamond, which always produced an abundance of goodness.
Her funeral service will be held on 2:00 pm, Tuesday, February 19, 2019 at Clark Funeral Home Chapel of Memories, 312 S. Wood Street, in Neosho, Missouri, with Wayne Rose officiating. Graveside services and interment will be held on 1:00 pm, Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Esta Lee will be buried at Steele Memorial Cemetery in Hartville, Missouri, next to her first husband, Jack Chandler. She will be among countless relatives in that cemetery (the Codays, the Cravenses, the Chandlers, and many others).
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