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STILLWATER - Esther May Durkee Bullard, 83, of Stillwater, died Saturday, July 26, 2003, in Oklahoma City. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Stillwater Unitarian Universalist Church.
Known to her friends as "Durkee," she was born Oct. 13, 1919, in Concord, Mass., to Albert Porter Durkee and Florence Estelle White Durkee, and was raised on the family farm in Acton, Mass.
After graduating with a degree in social work from the University of Chicago, she worked in a variety of jobs with the USO and the YWCA, developing programs for teens, families and returning veterans of World War II in San Diego, Calif., and Bethesda, Md.
In 1954, she married Howard Bullard and moved with him to Duncan, where they raised two daughters.
While living in Duncan, she returned to college and started a second career as a high school librarian and English teacher. She taught at Duncan High School until her retirement in 1979.
After retirement, she and Howard spent much of their time in Harlingen, Texas, and Del Norte, Colo. He died in Harlingen in 1990, and she moved to Stillwater.
In addition to her love of working with teens, Durkee enjoyed camping, kayaking, travel, gardening and any kind of learning. She was an avid reader and collector of books, and could never resist a used book sale.
She was a member of the League of Women Voters and the Nature Conservancy and recently joined a group studying voluntary simplicity.
Throughout her life, Durkee believed it was important to choose carefully how to spend her time, and once she committed to something, she gave it everything she had.
She is survived by two brothers, Sidney Porter Durkee of Littleton, Mass., and Albert White Durkee, of Silverdale, Wash.; her daughters, Susan Bullard and her husband, Johnny Weatherford, of Stillwater, and Peggy Bullard Ellis and her husband, Ed, of La Grange, Ill.; her grandchildren: Sally Weatherford Bommarito and her husband, Tony, Evalyn Weatherford, Noah Weatherford, Troy Weatherford, Nora Ellis, Emily Ellis and Graham Ellis.
Memorial donations can be made to the Nature Conservancy or the Stillwater Unitarian Universalist Church.
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