Kathleen Estes

Kathleen (Kay) C. Estes 7/28/1941 - 9/4/2022 The day after asking for a giant breakfast and a little Jim Croce through the speakers, Kay Estes passed peacefully, with her daughter by her side. A well-deserved rest for her 81 years of empathy, resilience, and love. Kay possessed the all too fleeting characteristic of knowing full well that the world owes you nothing, but you owe yourself the world. While some in her position would glower at the cards dealt and opine that the deck was stacked, Kay sharpened her eye, counted the face cards, and regularly turned her 13's into 21's. Never, did she ever, fold. When she found herself to be a single mother of two in the 70's, Kay pioneered her way through the University of Michigan, on a scholarship of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a side of persistence. When her arteries were failing her in her 30's, she stood up to be one of the very first stent surgeries at her alma mater's teaching hospital and went on to live another 42 years. Nice try vascular system, but she had kids to raise and better things to do. Then, in her 40's, she welcomed her second son Joe. An event that surprised and delighted her as she again embraced motherhood with homeschooling and cub scouts. Her arteries again betrayed her as she experienced her first heart attack in her mid 50's. She unequivocally said, "Not Yet". With that same heart that would not quit, she loved her family and friends infinitely, with thoughtfulness that puts Hallmark to shame. If you mentioned you liked the wine she served with dinner, you'd get that same bottle of German piesporter in every stocking for the next decade, without even remembering you had told her you liked it. This was Kay's way. She loved finding "that thing" about a person and turning it into a secret handshake between them. Kay is preceded in paradise by her son, Bob Vaughn, her sister Janice Rosado and her parents Ralph and Josephine Lescohier. She is lovingly remembered by her daughter Lisa (Jerry) Henderson, son Joe Estes, sisters Joanne (Jerry) Hale and Leanne Crosby, pugs Lily and Rosie, sweet kitten Polly, and an absolute pile of grandkids/great-grandkids that she regularly expressed her abundant pride for. Her family is grateful for the impeccable care provided these last days by the team of exceptional staff of Blodgett Hospital ICU and her Baywicke neighbors these last years. A celebration of Kay's life is in the works for next summer. In the meantime, order the flapjacks, pour the wine, put on that song you like with the barbed-wire verses, play your cards, and never... ever... fold Cremation arrangements are entrusted to Michigan Cremation & Funeral Care, Grand Rapids, 616-452-3006. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Kathleen Estes, please visit our flower store.