Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Pond is a tribute to lost co-worker
John Kester died before he could finish his Lake Stevens home project
-
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Billie Kester (right) hands a glass of water to Florenzio Chavez as he installs a brick patio next to the pond at Kester's Lake Stevens home.
-
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Billie Kester and Theo Matlock share a laugh with Vincent Cortes (right) as he works on rebuilding a pond at her Lake Stevens home. Kester's husband, John, died of cancer in July and his colleagues from Aero Construction took on the job as a tribute.
LAKE STEVENS -- The house Billie Kester bought with her husband, John, looks different now than it did five years ago.
The couple moved into their home on South Lake Stevens Road and spent time knocking down doors, building hallways, installing new windows and putting up trim. Outside they built on a front porch and routinely mowed down seedlings the two beechnut trees scattered in the front yard.
They talked over and over again about adding an outdoor patio and making a crumbling rock pond functional again.
Their plans were put on hold in January, when John was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer.
"He was really healthy except for the occasional cold," said Kester, 62. "Then, on Thanksgiving he started having pain in his jaw -- it was like a toothache. A day after Thanksgiving, his neck went like a balloon."
Doctors told her husband his cancer was a rare form and he could expect to live another six months. He underwent 25 days of radiation and 12 weeks of chemotherapy. In June, he started a new round of an experimental chemotherapy.
Through it all, he tried to keep a positive attitude, Kester said, but none of the treatment worked.
On June 29, she picked him up from the hospital in his 1964 Pontiac GTO. He died at home on July 4. He was 62.
A week later, Kester received a visit from Cathy Weiss, a colleague of her husband's at Aero Construction in Snohomish. Weiss noticed the collapsed pond and learned about the Kesters' plan to rebuild the structure.
"Everyone at work was asking, 'What can we do?' " Weiss said. "I said, 'I think there is something we can do.' "
Weiss asked for volunteers who wanted to participate in a work party at Kester's home as a tribute to John, who had worked at Aero Construction for the past 20 years.
A group of 20 volunteers from Aero Construction and Kester's neighbor Kerry Ford, of Ford Crane Inc., began work at 8 a.m. on Aug. 7. The volunteers mowed, weeded, spread mulch and planted new plants in the yard. They also built a patio and started work on the pond.
"Everybody has just been so helpful," Kester said. "I'm kind of speechless all the time."
A few volunteers returned Saturday to put some finishing touches on the pond's fountain.
"We'll turn the water on this week," Kester said on Monday. "It's going to be up and running here pretty quick."
Kester and her husband graduated from Snohomish High School in 1966. They became reacquainted at their 20th reunion in August 1986, Kester said, and were married Dec. 30, 1990.
He liked fishing, hunting, making biodiesel and working on his vehicles out in his shop. Kester shared her love of horses with her husband and they went on many horseback riding trips.
Kester plans to host a party at her home on Sept. 11 in memory of her husband. She expects her home and yard to be filled with family and friends.
She said the yard work helped her prepare for the event, which she planned at the request of her husband.
"He liked get togethers," she said.
"He just didn't want anybody to be sad."
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
The couple moved into their home on South Lake Stevens Road and spent time knocking down doors, building hallways, installing new windows and putting up trim. Outside they built on a front porch and routinely mowed down seedlings the two beechnut trees scattered in the front yard.
They talked over and over again about adding an outdoor patio and making a crumbling rock pond functional again.
Their plans were put on hold in January, when John was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer.
"He was really healthy except for the occasional cold," said Kester, 62. "Then, on Thanksgiving he started having pain in his jaw -- it was like a toothache. A day after Thanksgiving, his neck went like a balloon."
Doctors told her husband his cancer was a rare form and he could expect to live another six months. He underwent 25 days of radiation and 12 weeks of chemotherapy. In June, he started a new round of an experimental chemotherapy.
Through it all, he tried to keep a positive attitude, Kester said, but none of the treatment worked.
On June 29, she picked him up from the hospital in his 1964 Pontiac GTO. He died at home on July 4. He was 62.
A week later, Kester received a visit from Cathy Weiss, a colleague of her husband's at Aero Construction in Snohomish. Weiss noticed the collapsed pond and learned about the Kesters' plan to rebuild the structure.
"Everyone at work was asking, 'What can we do?' " Weiss said. "I said, 'I think there is something we can do.' "
Weiss asked for volunteers who wanted to participate in a work party at Kester's home as a tribute to John, who had worked at Aero Construction for the past 20 years.
A group of 20 volunteers from Aero Construction and Kester's neighbor Kerry Ford, of Ford Crane Inc., began work at 8 a.m. on Aug. 7. The volunteers mowed, weeded, spread mulch and planted new plants in the yard. They also built a patio and started work on the pond.
"Everybody has just been so helpful," Kester said. "I'm kind of speechless all the time."
A few volunteers returned Saturday to put some finishing touches on the pond's fountain.
"We'll turn the water on this week," Kester said on Monday. "It's going to be up and running here pretty quick."
Kester and her husband graduated from Snohomish High School in 1966. They became reacquainted at their 20th reunion in August 1986, Kester said, and were married Dec. 30, 1990.
He liked fishing, hunting, making biodiesel and working on his vehicles out in his shop. Kester shared her love of horses with her husband and they went on many horseback riding trips.
Kester plans to host a party at her home on Sept. 11 in memory of her husband. She expects her home and yard to be filled with family and friends.
She said the yard work helped her prepare for the event, which she planned at the request of her husband.
"He liked get togethers," she said.
"He just didn't want anybody to be sad."
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
Comments
(
