Dorothy Elizabeth Hester

Dorothy Elizabeth "Beth" Hester passed away August 24, 2025, She was 77 years old.
Beth was born to James Joseph Hester, III, and Doris (Bennett) Hester, December 29, 1947 in Harris County, Texas. She loved Seabrook, the community of her birth and upbringing. She considered herself "The Rememberer", recording stories, histories, photos, and genealogies of the old Seabrook families to share with us all.
A lifelong student, teacher, and explorer, she first trained as a nurse at Baylor University, eventually leading the Neonatal ICU at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. She spent many years as a school nurse in Benavides and Flour Bluff, TX. Her interest in infant care & education also led her to pursue certification as a Montessori and RIE instructor.
Never one to limit herself to only one field, she earned a degree in botany from Sam Houston State University. Everywhere she lived, she obtained certifications as a master gardener and master naturalist. She was an avid birder and hosted a nature-scape on the Annual Hummingbird Trail in Rockport, TX. One couldn't take a car trip with Beth without stopping to look at the birds, flora, and fauna. She even kept a bird sightings log each year, recording over 80 new birds in her last year alone.
She loved art and surrounded herself with it. She was an accomplished ink and watercolor artist and a photographer. She always said the first thing was to learn to "take pictures in your mind, so you never forget them." Her home was a living gallery filled with the beauty of her travels, with much of it created by her friends and family.
Beth created community wherever she lived. In Wellton, Arizona, she was known for her many adventures with her 'Golden Girls.' Traveling all over to find the perfect rock for her garden, to see petroglyphs, and the Salton Sea. She had the gift of gab and, more importantly, the ability to listen, see, and accept people where they were.
Beth loved to spread joy and witness the wonders of creation, and loved to spend time with her friends and family. She not only brightened the lives she directly touched, but also generations of children. We love and miss her and still feel her love and the continuing circles of joy and hope she brought to the world.
Beth is survived by her companion of over 30 years, Petra Villegas; her sister and brother-in-law, Janet & Steve Sherwood; her nieces, Elizabeth, Virginia, and Amelia; her nieces' three children; and many other relatives and friends.
Beth was preceded in death by her parents, her grandparents: James Joseph Hester, Jr., Sarah (Cocke) Hester, Walter Edwin Bennett, and Anna (Kaltenmeyer) Bennett; her aunts: Ruth (Hester) Murdock, Genevieve (Bennett) Curry, Dorothy (Bennett) Elder, Ruth Bennett; and by her close cousins, Adolph "Fella" Curry, Thomas Maurice Murdock, and Donna (Elder) Salinas.
Instead of a formal funeral, Beth asked that we all take time to celebrate nature, our communities, and our memories of her- from where we live across the country. She arranged to be interred at Aransas Memorial Park.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Dorothy Elizabeth Hester, please visit our flower store.