Violet Fern Esau

Violet Fern (Koehn) Esau was born to Amiel and Hannah Koehn on June 27, 1935, in Winton, California. She passed away on June 2, 2024, at the age of 88.  She left us quietly during an afternoon nap at her home less than half a mile from where she was born. Except for one year in her childhood spent in Missouri, Violet lived her whole life in the Livingston, Winton, and Atwater communities.

Her first years of public school were in the Arundel School on Shaffer Road in Winton, followed by her eighth grade year in Missouri and two more years in California at Livingston High School. During the year in Rich Hill, Missouri, at age 13, she felt the call of the Lord and became a Christian. She was baptized into the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, in Rich Hill.

She was a faithful, conscientious Christian all her life. Although she would sometimes express misgivings about her weakness in faith, she never wavered in her devotion to the Lord and her commitment to the Christian Faith. Her husband is blessed by the memory of their morning custom: she would find the next two chapters of the Bible and the Morning Song on her phone, and together they would listen as they ate their breakfast.

On April 26, 1959, she was united in marriage to John Henry Esau, at Livingston, California. They enjoyed 65 years of life together. Their daughter Shirley was a delight to them. Since she lived nearby, she was very much a part of her parents’ life.

Violet was a skilled bookkeeper for the family business and a notably creative cook for her friends and family. The local congregation’s school also benefited by her behind-the-scene’s support of her daughter’s teaching. Having grown up in a large family where singing was important, she privately enjoyed singing and transcribing songs for the rest of her life.

Some 30 years ago, Violet had a brain surgery that left her with the physical impairment she struggled with until she passed away. She courageously worked to overcome the effects of this surgery as well as to accept the limitations that it caused in her life.

She is survived by her husband, John,  and only child, Shirley Esau of Atwater; a special niece, Sherie Koehn, Atwater; her siblings: Merle Koehn, Montezuma, Kansas; Neoma Amoth, Livingston, California; Leonard and Charlotte Koehn, Stover, Missouri; Helen Koehn, Colcord, Oklahoma; Raymond and Mary Koehn, Atwater, California; and Ethel Koehn, Livingston, California; brother-in-law Herb and Mabel Esau, Atwater, California; sister-in-law Laura Esau, Atwater, California; brother-in-law Dennis Koehn and wife Gladene, Filer, Idaho, and many relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, five sisters and one brother.

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