Esther L. Hammond

Former Tonawanda, N.Y., resident Esther Louise Hammond, 89, died March 9, 2008, at Craven Regional Medical Center in New Bern, N.C.

A service will be held at Pollock-Best Funeral Home on Thursday at 10 a.m. with the Rev. Joseph Parker officiating. A memorial service will also be held in Charlevoix, Mich., during the week of July 7, 2008.

Mrs. Hammond was born Feb 27, 1919, in Charlevoix, Mich., to Angus Lorenzo (Gerhard) Fochtman and Ella Mae Cross (Fochtman).

After graduating from Charlevoix High School in 1937, and Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., in 1941, she married Hubert L. "Bill" Hammond on August 27, 1949, in Charlevoix, Mich.

She moved to Tonawanda in 1954, where she was employed as an elementary school teacher in the Kenmore Town of Tonawanda School System for more than 20 years, retiring in 1982. She was an active first mate and award-winning fisherman on a series of boats that the Hammond family owned and named after her.

She lived in Largo, Fla., from 1983 until 2004, where she enjoyed golf and traveling. In 2004, she moved to Homeplace in New Bern.

Mrs. Hammond was a member of the Western NY Retired Teachers Association.

She is survived by her daughter and partner, Jane Hammond and Michael Page, of Potomac, Md.; son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey B. and Jayne Hammond, of New Bern, N.C.; grandchildren, Lars Mortenson of Winston-Salem, N.C., Leia Mortenson of Binghamton, NY.., and Jeffrey W. Hammond of New Bern, N.C.; sister, Mary Helen Riggle, of Charlevoix, Mich.; and brother, Edward Fochtman of Largo, Fla.

Mrs. Hammond was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, and her brothers Richard, William and Robert.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Charlevoix Food Pantry, c/o The First Congregational Church, 101 State St, Charlevoix, MI 49720.

Anyone wishing to sign the guestbook or share a memory or condolence with the family may do so by visiting www.pollockbest.com.

Arrangements by Pollock-Best Funerals and Cremations.

Paid obituary