Esther Ann Drotleff

Esther Ann Drotleff, 81 of Medina, passed away peacefully at her home Friday, May 16, 2025. She was born in Cleveland on July 6, 1943, to Arthur Walter Hallberg and Florence (Andersen) Hallberg.
Esther grew up on the West side of Cleveland. She had the most fascinating stories of the days of the milk man, ice box, coal chutes and West side market adventures. She attended Asbury College in Wilmore Kentucky and graduated with a B.S. in secondary education. The Asbury years produced even more good stories of cockroaches, dorm mom responsibilities and station wagon road trips in blizzards. After college she returned to Ohio and soon after met a country boy from Lafayette with 3 lovely daughters. Mike and Esther married in 1974 and settled down to raising their family, gardening vegetables and camping across the country. The combination of Mike, Esther and kids elevated the stories to epic.
Esther was a career teacher of junior high and high school Science and Math. She taught early on in North Ridgeville and finished her teaching at Buckeye Junior High. You could not take her anywhere in Medina county that she was not recognized as someone's teacher. She has a silver-plated trophy in her room awarded to her by a coworker for almost blowing up the 6th floor science lab.
Esther was also a teacher of Scripture, lover of Jesus And faithful servant. She served faithfully and selflessly in every church congregation she ever was a member. Esther was involved in many ministries from Sunday school, music, deaf ministry, senior group ministry, prison ministry, church finances, church cleaning team and many more. She was a teacher at Ohio Bible College and a missionary to the isles off the East coast of Africa. She has blessed so many lives that only eternity will tell her whole impact.
Left to celebrate Esther's homegoing are her siblings; Carol (Hallberg) Bittinger and husband Allen Bittinger, Diane (Hallberg) Curtis and husband Russell Curtis, her children; Faith Joy (Drotleff) Brooks and husband Ralph Brooks, Daniel Micheal Drotleff and wife Brittany (Kincheloe) Drotleff, step children; Sarah (Drotleff) Ward, Judith (Drotleff) Sanchez, and Rita (Drotleff) Arnholt; her 16 cherished grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren (and one more on the way) and many extended family and dear friends.
Preceding her in death was her husband of 27 years, Michael Peter Drotleff in 2001.
Visitation will be held from 3-7 p.m., Thursday, May 22, 2025, at Waite Funeral Home, 765 N Court St, Medina, OH 44256. Homegoing celebration will be held at 11:30 am Friday, May 23, 2025, with additional viewing at the church from 10:30 to 11:30am at Life Ministries Church, 9878 Krabill Rd, Rittman Oh 44270
In lieu of flowers, Please send donations to foreign missions via: https://www.lifeministriesohio.com/give
or by mail to: Life ministries, c/o E. Drotleff, Memorial Missions Fund, PO box 97, Rittman, OH 44270.
Online condolences may be left at www.waitefuneralhome.com.
To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Esther Ann Drotleff, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.
Waite Funeral Homes - Medina Chapel