by Frances DeAtley
(Note from California Council president Cathie Skivers: Juliet Esterly, an educator, advocate and mentor of many blind and visually impaired people, passed away Dec. 20, 2001. Her longtime friend and bookkeeper Frances DeAtley has prepared a piece which will serve as Julie's obituary and which will also be circulated to various publications in agencies where Julie served for so many years.)
Juliet Esterly died on December 20, 2001 after a short illness. She was born May 31, 1912, in Los Angeles. Although she was legally blind, and lost her sight completely as an adult, she attended Scripps College on a four-year scholarship and graduated in 1934. When Scripps established a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, Juliet was invited to join and represent all previous alumnae. She later completed graduate studies in social welfare at U.C. Berkeley.
Her first job was as a social worker for the blind at the Alameda County Welfare Department. She was later employed by the state of California for nearly 30 years as home teacher of Braille with a territory covering California's 50 northern counties. During this time she wrote the first real "how to" handbook for blind people, which was published in 1952 by Macmillan Publishing Co. and later translated into Braille and talking books.
Juliet was a strong advocate of Braille and attended a conference in London in 1989 to deliver a paper on the changes in the Braille code. In 1971 Juliet married Everett Esterly and moved to Rossmoor; she was widowed in 1981. Juliet was a charter member on the board of directors for the American Council of the Blind and was given its Ambassador Award in 1973. She also served as president of the Associated Blind of California, the first California affiliate of the ACB. When this group merged with the California Council of the Blind she also served on the new board of directors. She was a three-term president of the Retired Public Employees Association (RPEA) in Contra Costa County and the Rossmoor Residents Association. She was given the Rossmoor "Citizen of Merit" award in 1985, and was named "Most Valuable Member" by the state of California RPEA in 1993.
She also was presented a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship by the Walnut Creek City Council the same year. She was a member of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Rehabilitation Teachers, a professional organization, and in 1994 the national organization presented her with an award for "service over and above the call of duty."
She had been living in a retirement home since 1994. She requested that no services be held. Any memorial donations should be made to the Juliet King Esterly Scholarship Fund (income to benefit a blind student), Scripps College, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont, CA 91711-3948.