Zelda Estep died last week. She was more widely known than the average person, having worked at Citizens Bank for 38 years in the note department. Imagine the scores of people she met and did business with in those working years.
She was also the widow of Lindberg Estep, who for many years was owner and operator of Estep Coal Co. And, if you knew Lindberg, you knew about Zelda, because she was always on his mind and in his heart. When he spoke her name, it was with much fondness and love. On one occasion he shared that a good day was when he had finished his work at the coal yard, he could go home and sit at the dinner table with Zelda and they would just “share with each other.”
While Lindberg was roudy and talkative, Zelda was a more private and modest person, who her daughter, Grace, described as “a rock.”
“She was one of the smartest people I knew, a devout Christian, very humble, and loved her children and grandchildren. She was about family and she and my dad were best friends,” Grace said.
Zelda was raised on Simerly Creek, and was one of eight children — four girls and four boys. “Their mother had a small community store in the basement of their house, and she helped in the store some. She grew up in the post-depression era, and she and other siblings knew what it was to be saving. My mother often said, ‘We were poor, but we didn’t know it. We were blessed because we always had what we needed,’” Grace shared.
After completing high school Zelda moved to Elizabethton to live with a cousin. She worked in Johnson City at State Farm Insurance Co. At that time she didn’t have a car yet and rode to work with her cousin.
Zelda met Lindberg at a church picnic. In fact, he was there with another girl. When the couple did get together, they dated for a year and a half, before Lindberg proposed over dinner one evening. Maybe, that was why dinner with Zelda was always special to Lindberg.
Zelda was the mother of a son and daughter — Lindy and Grace. Lindy, who was 19 years old when Grace was born, lives in LaVergne, Tenn. Grace and her husband live in Harrisburg, Pa.
Although Zelda worked at the bank Monday through Friday, Grace said she always made breakfast every morning and cooked supper every evening. “We maybe ate out once a week,” she said. Grace fondly remembers her mother’s chocolate chip cookies and homemade fudge. “She was a great dessert maker.”
“My mother was also an avid reader. She read to me every night. I remember some of the books she read to me were children’s books about Aristotle and Eleanor Roosevelt. My mother was a life-long learner, and one of our favorite games was Dictionary. We would take turns looking up a word and asking each other the meaning,” Grace said.
Zelda was a devout Christian and a long-time member of Immanuel Baptist Church. In addition to her church work, she was a member of the Eastern Star and was a den mother when Lindy was in the Boy Scouts.
After Lindberg’s death, Zelda’s health began to fail her and she was in and out of the hospital several times. “My mother even when she was sick had the most beautiful smile, which reflected her kindness. She even smiled when the nurses drew blood from her arm. And, always she thanked them,” Grace shared.
Grace gave the eulogy at her mother’s funeral Saturday, and noted that her mother wanted to pay a bill as quick as she received it. “It would drive her crazy that my dad would consistently wait until the last possible minute of the last possible day a bill was due to pay it,” she shared.
“She taught me financial responsibility, empathy for others, and to be open-minded and non-judgmental. My mother taught me to be open to the opinions and ideas of others and understanding of their struggles,” Grace said.
Zelda died 14 months to the day that her husband died and the day after his birthday. “I like to think it was her birthday gift to him. I am sure my dad got on God’s nerves by repeatedly asking ‘When is she coming?’ and once she arrived, asking ‘Where have you been?’ He always wanted her close to him,” Grace shared in her eulogy.
“My brother and I were blessed to always have our mom there for us. She set an example of what I want to be as a wife, mother, and a servant of God,” said Grace.
No greater tribute could be given by a daughter to her mother.