A woman possessed of remarkable talents, energy, and faith, Esther Jane Leck, began her journey to heaven on Oct. 25, 2026, surrounded by her loving family.

Born Esther Jane McCandless on Feb. 16, 1938 in Antigo, Wisconsin, she was a child of the Midwest, but Maine became her true home, first when her husband served as an Air Force physician during the Cold War at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine in the very early 1960s, and again in July 1970, after brief sojourns in Denver, Colorado and Moline, Illinois while her husband finished his medical training and began his pathology practice. She met her husband, Richard C. Leck, in Hyde Park, Chicago in 1958 when she was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago and he was a medical student there. They married on Valentine’s Day 1959 and with that wedding date, how could it not have been a love story for the ages?

Devoted to one another for almost 68 years, Esther and Richard, upon their return to Maine in 1970, created a loving home for their five children in an 1820 farmhouse in Woolwich that Esther redesigned and remodeled, largely with her own hands and brain. Teaching herself architectural drawing, historical house design, painting, tiling, wallpapering, and even basic masonry, Esther learned whatever skills were needed to get the house built.

In the early years of her marriage, as a young mother, Esther threw herself into learning all she could about nursing, natural childbirth, and nutrition. At a time when most pediatricians recommended infants start feeding with formula, she joined the nascent La Leche League in Chicago. Esther took all she learned about breastfeeding from La Leche and natural childbirth from Lamaze courses she took, and became a leader and teacher of both those philosophies and techniques to countless young mothers, fathers, and families who sought her guidance and wisdom about how to safely and successfully birth, nurse, and care for young children. In the early 1970s, shortly after her return to Maine, Esther served as La Leche League’s Regional Leader for the entire Eastern United States.

As her children grew, Esther threw herself into their care, supporting their interests through her countless talents. A truly gifted seamstress and handicrafts expert, Esther sewed and knitted many of her children’s clothes–even woolen coats!--making costumes for their Halloween celebrations and their school plays, and serving as the sewing instructor for her daughters’ 4-H groups. Driven by her own intellectual interests, Esther also became a docent at the Art and Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museums at Bowdoin College, eventually becoming president of the Docent Society. She audited many classes at the college, too, particularly in music, having studied and played classical piano for much of her life.

When her children began to leave home for boarding school and college, Esther’s boundless energy turned towards care for the natural world and others. She became the founder and president of the Bluebird Society of Maine, working tirelessly to bring this beautiful species, whose population was in severe decline, back to health. She sent bluebird house designs, and occasionally bird houses, along with feeding tips and information about habitats and breeding to hundreds of people. Her work was the catalyst for the now healthier population of these beautiful birds we see frequently in Maine today.

A devoted full-time mother for many years, Esther became a realtor after her children were grown, earning the top score on her real estate exam in Washington State (at the age of 54), where she lived for five years during the final years of her husband’s medical career. Her work in real estate became an extension of her integrity and personal philosophy that finding a home or land to create something the client loved was more important than the commission.

Throughout her life Esther possessed a keen interest in gardening and horticulture. She was a member of the Garden Clubs of both Wiscasset and Bath, and she served as president of both clubs. Her deep, almost encyclopedic knowledge of plants was extraordinary, and she served as the classification chair, identifying and tagging plants, at many plant sales and garden club events. Her own expansive and exquisite gardens, including a sunken one created from the foundation of the original barn on the farm she called home in Woolwich, were a source of inspiration and pride. She was never happier than when she was working in a garden.

Her passion and expertise in gardening became a source of solace for hundreds of others when, after her own battle with breast cancer in 2006, she was the chief architect, driving force, and creator of the Healing Garden at Midcoast Hospital’s Cancer Treatment Center in Bath. Esther  knew first-hand that a beautiful, serene, natural space would provide comfort and peace to all people affected by cancer, be they patients or caregivers, and her efforts were recognized when she received the Spirit of Life Award from the Maine Cancer Foundation in 2011.

Esther’s accomplishments were all driven by her remarkable intelligence and curiosity. An autodidact and quiet leader who could teach herself almost anything, she leaves a legacy of accomplishments, love, and beauty to her family, friends, and the Midcoast community.

She is survived by her husband, Richard Leck of Woolwich; along with four children, Kristin Harman of Newcastle, Maine (David Harman), Derek Leck of Portland, Maine, Elise Smith of Bethesda, Maryland (Brooke Smith), and Heather Leck of Nashville, Tennessee and East Boothbay, Maine. Her youngest child, Richard Brandenburg von Hasseln Leck, predeceased her. She also leaves six grandchildren, Lauren Gallo White of San Francisco, California (Luke White), Max Gallo of Sacramento, California (Lisa Frank), Collin Smith of Boston, Massachusetts, Charlotte Smith of Bethesda, Maryland, and Gunnar Leck and Tristin Leck of Bedford, New Hampshire; along with four great-grandchildren, Calvin, Ray, and Enna White, and Leon Frank Gallo.

A celebration of Esther’s life will be held at the First Congregational Church UCC of Wiscasset on March 20, 2027 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Garden Club of Wiscasset, the Healing Garden at Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick, or the First Congregational Church UCC of Wiscasset.

Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main Street, Damariscotta, ME 04543.  Condolences, and messages for her family, may be expressed by visiting: www.StrongHancock.com.