Esther Carter Civille, 88, died Tuesday afternoon, June 14, 2006, at Logan Regional Hospital of respiratory failure.

She was born in Pony (Whitehall), Montana, October 7, 1917, the fourth daughter of Lona Hall Carter and John Lewis Carter. Her father was a rancher. In the early 1920s, the family moved to Pomona, California.

Educated in Pomona City Schools, she was graduated from Pomona City College and later from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a degree in elementary education. Over the course of 30 years, she taught school in several southern Californian communities; Tokyo, Japan; Leavenworth, Kansas; Springfield, Virginia and Logan.

She married Lewis Acton Civille, her high school and college sweetheart, on October 3, 1940. He enlisted in the Army in 1941 and was stationed in Curaçao, Netherlands West Indies. Following World War II, Esther was the first wife from Pomona to join her military husband overseas. They lived at Losey Field, near Ponce, Puerto Rico. After a return to civilian life in southern California, Lewis was called to active duty from the Army Reserves in 1951 at the beginning of the Korean Conflict. In 1954, Esther and her two daughters, Mary and Janie, joined him in Japan. The next 18 years would find the family in Japan, Georgia, Utah, Kansas, Virginia and Germany. Every move was seen as an opportunity to learn and make new friends. While in Japan, she gave English lessons to the General Manager of Honda Motors.

When Lewis retired from the Army in 1968, the family returned to Logan. Esther was active in the First Presbyterian Church, where she served as a deacon, the Fine Arts Club, the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and many other civic organizations.

Her survivors include her daughters, Mary Hall Civille, of Avondale Estates, Georgia, and Janie Carter Civille of Olympia, Washington, and sisters Pauline C. Anderson of Pomona, California, and Bess C. Wilkinson, Rancho Cucamonga, California. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, each of whom believes she loved them best. She loved everyone, and everyone loved her.

Memorial services will be held at 2:00 PM on Monday, June 19, 2006 at the First Presbyterian Church, 12 South 200 West, Logan, Utah. Arrangements are under the direction of Allen-Hall Mortuary. Condolences may be sent to the family at Allen Mortuaries.