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Esther Marie Paap Esther Marie Paap passed away peacefully
Esther Marie Paap Esther Marie Paap passed away peacefully on February 9, 2025. Esther was born on February 25, 1949, to Clifford and Marie Sorenson and grew up in Rapid City, SD. She wanted to be a nurse from an early age and remained passionately committed to nursing throughout her life. After graduating from nursing school in Colorado Springs, CO, in 1970, she moved to Pierre, SD, where she managed a critical care unit on her own for 10 years. She moved to Santa Fe, NM, in 1981 with her two young daughters and held several positions at St. Vincent Hospital over the next two decades. She met the love of her life, Roy Paap, in 1986 and they married in 1989. In 1998, they moved to Flagstaff, AZ, where she fulfilled a lifelong dream of teaching nursing. Returning to New Mexico in 2004, she worked as a critical care nurse at the Heart Hospital and Presbyterian Medical Center in Albuquerque. After retirement, she experienced nursing from the other side when she underwent a double lung transplant in 2017. Through this and other health challenges in recent years, she showed incredible fortitude and determination. Esther was warm, generous and kind with everyone she met. She was deeply dedicated to friends and family and was the driving force behind countless family dinners and holiday celebrations. She was also curious, playful and creative. She wrote poetry all her life and kept a beautiful home. She was a gifted gardener, loved hiking and camping, and made a bountiful picnic. Her loss will be deeply felt among all who knew her. Esther is survived by her husband, Roy Paap; her daughters, Holly (Thomas Gray) Myers and Elizabeth (David) Wofford; her granddaughter, Jillian Wofford; her sister, Katie Walton; and five nieces and nephews. A memorial will be held in the early summer.
