Esther (Sherman) Arlan

Esther was born Sept. 4, 1935 in Philadelphia to the late Isaac and Freda (Zorn) Sherman. She attended Philadelphia public schools and Temple University and took professional advancement classes at UMass Boston.

Esther shared 70 years of marriage with her beloved husband, Lionel Arlan. Esther and Lionel’s adventures together included raising a family, dedicated volunteer work and extensive travel throughout six of the seven continents.

Of utmost importance to Esther were family, friends, education, community service, civic engagement and her faith.

Esther aided family members and friends in any way she could and maintained connections between them, encouraging others to do the same. Her genealogical research brought forth interesting discoveries and new living family connections, many of whom she was able to meet.

Serving on the Saranac Lake school board, Esther was asked to also serve on New York State School Board Association committees. She volunteered in Saranac Lake and Lexington schools and worked running Lexington High School’s Career Center. After helping to bring to fruition The Wild Center natural history museum in Tupper Lake, she became a volunteer there.

An active member of Rotary International and the Rotary Clubs of Nashua and Saranac Lake, Esther served as president in Saranac Lake and created a literacy project, distributing free books to elementary students, which she also brought to the greater Nashua community. She served on the board of her condominium community in Nashua and was a Town Meeting member, president of the school secretaries union and on the finance committee in Lexington. She was an advocate for human and women’s rights, and up until a few weeks ago wrote hundreds of post cards encouraging voters to vote in upcoming elections.

Esther was a life member of Hadassah and recently became a member of Central Synagogue in New York City, faithfully watching the livestreamed services and pursuing connection and education in the synagogue’s virtual worldwide community. She was concurrently an active member of Temple Beth Abraham in Nashua and was a past president of Temple Emunah’s Sisterhood in Lexington. Becoming a Bat Mitzvah in midlife was a milestone she felt was long overdue since this was not available to females when she was a young girl.

Esther was a keen, practical-minded facilitator and negotiator with a wealth of knowledge and experience which she shared freely, and you can see that she kept busy in business and community settings. In her leisure time, she enjoyed knitting and quilting and belonged to local and virtual groups, including the fiber group of Temple Beth Abraham and The Rotarian Fellowship of Quilters and Fiber Artists. As an avid reader, she favored historical fiction and non-fiction and belonged to several book clubs. She also enjoyed cooking for family and the many guests that visited over the years.

Esther was predeceased by her sister Pecki Witonsky and brothers-in-law Phil Arlan and his wife Mariko and Sol Arlan and his wife Ettie. She is survived by her husband Lionel, son Aaron and his wife Lorrie (Maddox), daughter Miriam, son Adam and his wife Margie (Cox), grandchildren Heather, Michael, Nick, Dan, Katie and Jake, her brother Joe Sherman, brother-in-law Carl Witonsky, many nephews, nieces and cousins, and numerous other relatives and friends near and far.

A funeral service was held at Beth Abraham Cemetery in Nashua, New Hampshire by Rabbi Jon Spira-Savett in conjunction with Davis Funeral Home of Nashua. In Esther’s memory, please consider donating to Hadassah or your local Rotary Club.