(From Thornhill-Dillon Mortuary)Laura (Larkie) Craigmiles Esther of Joplin, Missouri and Garfield, Arkansas passed away peacefully at the age of 89 on December 3, 2025 surrounded by her family.
Larkie was born May 24, 1936 in Fredricktown, Missouri to Mary Jane Forbes Craigmiles and Dr. Lawrence William Craigmiles. When she was two, the family doctor who lived next door nicknamed her “Larkie Sparkie” because she was such a happy spirit. She was known as Larkie thereafter.
Larkie grew up in Hannibal, Missouri where her father was a dentist and her mother was a homemaker. The family, including her younger brother William Harlan Craigmiles (still of Hannibal) and younger sister Marilyn Craigmiles Thomas (of Prairie Village, Kansas) attended the Hannibal United Methodist Church. Growing up in Hannibal, Larkie formed her lifelong deep faith, beloved friendships and enduring fondness for Mark Twain and all things Mississippi River. She was a lifeguard, a Girl Scout, a cheerleader, a candy-striper and an excellent student.
From childhood, she was determined to become a nurse. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing at the University of Missouri and was a member of the first graduating class of the School of Nursing there. She attended summer school at the University of Colorado in Boulder to complete additional requirements including PE and loved hiking and camping and horseback riding. She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
During the fall of her junior year at Mizzou, she had a blind date with a handsome med student, John Robert Esther. It was love at first sight for both and they were engaged by Christmas. They married the following August 31, 1957 because both had such busy school schedules they would not have time to see each other otherwise. Larkie was serving as President of the state student nurses association and Mizzou was hosting their annual convention which she was in charge of planning and coordinating. She graduated with her BSN in May 1958 and she and John welcomed their first child, Julie Esther Witte that August. Son John William Esther was born June of 1961 and daughter Cynthia Esther Campbell was born in May 1964.
Following John’s graduation from Medical School, the couple moved to Bristol, Tennessee for his pathology residency and then accepted a position with the Ferguson Medical Laboratory in Joplin, Missouri where they maintained a home thereafter.
She and John were avid campers and water-lovers. From a honeymoon at his folk’s cabin on Lake of the Ozarks, to canoe camping with a baby crib on board as a young couple to joyful time spent on their houseboat on Grand Lake in Oklahoma and retiring at their lake home on Beaver Lake, in Arkansas, the peace of nature and love of water were lifelong joys. She loved boating and camping with family and friends. She and John and the children boated and camped from Minneapolis down the Mississippi river one year and another year followed the St. Lawrence Seaway. They spent weeks living onboard and sailing the Abaco Keys.
Larkie was a loving and serving spirit devoted to her family. She was always active in PTA and was both a Boy Scout and Girl Scout Leader. Her home was always open, to friends, to stray animals soon adopted, and especially to neighborhood children she loved like her own. Larkie had a deep faith which she shared lovingly. She was also a very dry wit. She used to caution people not to do what she had done and pray for patience “because God will give you plenty of chances to develop it if you ask.”
Long time member of the First Presbyterian Church of Joplin, she served in many capacities including as a Stephen’s Minister, Home Communion Team Member, Sunday School Teacher, Nursery Worker, Women’s Circle member, member of the Handbell Choir and anything else that needed doing including dishwasher. The Esther family, including their three children, served on a mission trip to a Native American Reservation. She and John later visited ministries and churches in Scotland with the Rev. William Christman. One of the things she was happiest to have done is establish a non-denominational class for area special needs students. She arranged for area sheltered workshops and guidance centers to transport members each week joining others for fellowship and love and joy. She always said she gained so much more from them than she could ever provide.
For the last decades of their life in retirement, Larkie and John attended the non-denominational Lost Bridge Community Church on Whitney Mountain in Garfield. When in her final years Larkie was unable to attend in person due to her health, she faithfully watched services on you tube each week loving the sermons, the hymns and the fellowship and community she felt from glimpses it gave her of dear friends.
Larkie was always concerned for others and contributed her time and energy to many causes. She always liked to say she was “not a joiner”. However, she was a member of the American Association of University Women, St. John’s Hospital Medical Auxiliary, Joplin Area Panhellenic, PEO and the Joplin Woman’s Club. (She resigned from the Woman’s Club in the late 1960’s when they refused to admit a very qualified black member she had proposed.)
She chose to devote the vast majority of her time and talent to quiet service to family and others. She was a long time volunteer for Hospice, Meals on Wheels, Reading to the Vision impaired, the area Cerebral Palsy Clinic and she and John both worked on various public health vaccination initiatives.
From childhood, she was determined to become a nurse. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing at the University of Missouri and was a member of the first graduating class of the School of Nursing there. She attended summer school at the University of Colorado in Boulder to complete additional requirements including PE and loved hiking and camping and horseback riding. She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
During the fall of her junior year at Mizzou, she had a blind date with a handsome med student, John Robert Esther. It was love at first sight for both and they were engaged by Christmas. They married the following August 31, 1957 because both had such busy school schedules they would not have time to see each other otherwise. Larkie was serving as President of the state student nurses association and Mizzou was hosting their annual convention which she was in charge of planning and coordinating. She graduated with her BSN in May 1958 and she and John welcomed their first child, Julie Esther Witte that August. Son John William Esther was born June of 1961 and daughter Cynthia Esther Campbell was born in May 1964.
Following John’s graduation from Medical School, the couple moved to Bristol, Tennessee for his pathology residency and then accepted a position with the Ferguson Medical Laboratory in Joplin, Missouri where they maintained a home thereafter.
She and John were avid campers and water-lovers. From a honeymoon at his folk’s cabin on Lake of the Ozarks, to canoe camping with a baby crib on board as a young couple to joyful time spent on their houseboat on Grand Lake in Oklahoma and retiring at their lake home on Beaver Lake, in Arkansas, the peace of nature and love of water were lifelong joys. She loved boating and camping with family and friends. She and John and the children boated and camped from Minneapolis down the Mississippi river one year and another year followed the St. Lawrence Seaway. They spent weeks living onboard and sailing the Abaco Keys.
Larkie was a loving and serving spirit devoted to her family. She was always active in PTA and was both a Boy Scout and Girl Scout Leader. Her home was always open, to friends, to stray animals soon adopted, and especially to neighborhood children she loved like her own. Larkie had a deep faith which she shared lovingly. She was also a very dry wit. She used to caution people not to do what she had done and pray for patience “because God will give you plenty of chances to develop it if you ask.”
Long time member of the First Presbyterian Church of Joplin, she served in many capacities including as a Stephen’s Minister, Home Communion Team Member, Sunday School Teacher, Nursery Worker, Women’s Circle member, member of the Handbell Choir and anything else that needed doing including dishwasher. The Esther family, including their three children, served on a mission trip to a Native American Reservation. She and John later visited ministries and churches in Scotland with the Rev. William Christman. One of the things she was happiest to have done is establish a non-denominational class for area special needs students. She arranged for area sheltered workshops and guidance centers to transport members each week joining others for fellowship and love and joy. She always said she gained so much more from them than she could ever provide.
For the last decades of their life in retirement, Larkie and John attended the non-denominational Lost Bridge Community Church on Whitney Mountain in Garfield. When in her final years Larkie was unable to attend in person due to her health, she faithfully watched services on you tube each week loving the sermons, the hymns and the fellowship and community she felt from glimpses it gave her of dear friends.
Larkie was always concerned for others and contributed her time and energy to many causes. She always liked to say she was “not a joiner”. However, she was a member of the American Association of University Women, St. John’s Hospital Medical Auxiliary, Joplin Area Panhellenic, PEO and the Joplin Woman’s Club. (She resigned from the Woman’s Club in the late 1960’s when they refused to admit a very qualified black member she had proposed.)
She chose to devote the vast majority of her time and talent to quiet service to family and others. She was a long time volunteer for Hospice, Meals on Wheels, Reading to the Vision impaired, the area Cerebral Palsy Clinic and she and John both worked on various public health vaccination initiatives.
Larkie is preceded in death by her husband, her parents and by her son, Dr. John William Esther of Springfield and is survived by her brother William Harlan Craigmiles and wife Wendy of Hannibal, MO and sister Marilyn Craigmiles Thomas of Prairie Village, KS; daughter Julie Esther Witte and husband Douglas of Bentonville, AR; her daughter Cynthia Esther Campbell and husband Russell of Burleson, TX ; her daughter in law Carol Leidig Esther of Springfield and by nine very beloved grandchildren: Dr. John Windsor Esther and wife Dr. Kaitlyn Esther of Bentonville; Madeline Irma Esther Shumaker and husband Alex of Edina, MN; Robert Douglas Witte of Fairfax, VA; William Robert Campbell and wife, Dr. Jacqueline Campbell of Kaneohe, HI, ; Joseph Craigmiles Esther and wife Aimee of Saratoga Springs, NY; Sarah Jane Campbell and wife Lindsey of Brooklyn, NY; Laura Grace Witte of Bentonville, AR; Eliza Jane Esther of Denver, CO and Katelynn Jessie Campbell of Dallas TX ; and by five great grandchildren. She is also survived by beloved nieces, nephews and dear friends.
In accordance with her wishes, a private graveside funeral service for the family will be held at 3:00 p.m. Friday December 12, 2025 at the Esther Family Memorial at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City. Arrangements are under the personal care and direction of Thornhill-Dillon Mortuary, Joplin, Missouri.
A public celebration of her life will be held at the Lost Bridge Community Church in Garfield, AR at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2025.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Hospice organization of your choice. The family is eternally grateful for the care she and John both received from the Circle of Life Hospice of Northwest Arkansas.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Thornhill-Dillon Mortuary, Joplin, Missouri.
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