Esther Andrada Chandler, daughter, sister, mother, and friend, died peacefully in her home in Randolph on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, surrounded by the love of her family.
Esther was born on Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 17, 1932. She loved Martha’s Vineyard, her home. Although she left “the Island,” as she called it, physically at the age of 17 to go to nursing school in Salem, her soul always remained there. Her love of the Island was contagious, as she brought her family and countless numbers of friends “home.”
Esther left home in 1950 to begin a journey that would take her all over New England, settling in Boston and on to its suburbs. She married Mark Chandler and had three children, Julia, John, and Marka, and her daughter of her heart, her niece Sharon Johnson. She raised her children in South Weymouth, but her soul was always on the Island. She worked for John Hancock Insurance, and then at Grossman’s. Her family and friends meant the world to her.
Esther loved all kinds of music, and filled her home with it. She also loved to travel in her earlier years. She was an enthusiastic shopper, scouting out and spotting all the bargains, and passing out her treasures to her extended family members. She will be a missed customer of QVC and HSN.
Esther was the daughter of John and Julia (Manning) Andrada, the beloved mother of Julia Mosely and her husband Jonathan of Randolph, John Chandler and his wife Julie of Oak Bluffs, and Marka Chandler of Randolph. She was grandmother to Justin Mosely of Brockton, Joni Mosely and her husband Adam Katzman of Cooper City, Fla., Jennifer Jackson and her husband Dustin of Brooklyn, N.Y., Curtis Chandler and his wife Abigail of Chappaquiddick, Tnisha Chandler and her partner Stanley McMullen Jr. of Aquinnah. Se was the beloved GG to Tnisha’s children Kaya and Abel Rutkowski, Curtis’s children John and Adeline Chandler, and Joni’s children Brice and Rose Katzman. She was the sister of the late Jennie Fortes; she is also survived by her former husband, Mark Chandler of Brockton, and their many nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews.
There will be a visiting hour at the Chapman, Cole and Gleason funeral home, Edgartown Road, Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, on Friday, Nov. 23, from 11:30 to 12:30, followed by a graveside service at the Oak Grove Cemetery, State Road, Tisbury.
Donations may be made in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org) or a charity of your choosing. Visit ccgfuneralhome.com for online guestbook and information.
