CHESAPEAKE - Estella "Stell" Ralston Plaster, 89, a resident of Chesapeake Place Assisted Living in Chesapeake, went home to be with the Lord on March 4, 2010, following a brief illness. She was born June 19, 1920 on the family farm on Laurel Creek near Tanner, W.Va., daughter of the late Martha Bennett Wilt and William Rennick Ralston. Stell attended a one-room elementary school, graduated from Tanner High School, Glenville State College, West Virginia, with a teaching degree. She taught school in West Virginia for seven years and then worked at BF Goodrich in Akron, Ohio, as an inspector after World War II, where she met her husband. Estella and James W. Plaster were married Sept. 6, 1950 in Akron. Stell taught first grade at Highland Park (now Sam Salem) Elementary school in the Kenmore section of Akron for 25 years, retiring in 1976. She was an active member of Firestone Park Presbyterian Church. Preceded in death by her husband James, she is survived by son and daughter- in-law, Donald James and Debra Patton Plaster of Virginia Beach; sister, Crystal M. Hinzman of Chesapeake; grandchildren, Matthew (Carol) Plaster of Gibsonville, N.C., Sara Plaster of San Antonio, Texas; great-grandchildren, Finnley, Colie and Evan Plaster of Gibsonville, N.C.; many cousins, nieces and nephews. Friends may call 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 18, 2010, at the Schlup- Pucak Funeral Chapel, 788 Kenmore Blvd., Akron. A funeral will be 1 p.m. Friday, March 19, 2010, at the Firestone Park Presbyterian Church, 275 S. Firestone Blvd., Akron, Ohio 44301. The Rev. Amy Starr Redwine, officiating, with burial at Greenlawn Memorial Park to follow at 3 p.m. For those that wish, memorial contributions in lieu of flowers, may be made to the Church Memorial Fund. A memorial service in Virginia Beach will be held at a later date.

Published in The Virginian Pilot on March 14, 2010