Esther Edie died Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at her home in Brookings, South Dakota. A celebration of her life will be held at 3:00 P.M. Saturday, February 4, 2006, at First Presbyterian Church in Brookings, followed by a reception. Visitations will be from 6-8 P.M. Friday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Memorials may be directed to First Presbyterian Church, the Church Faith Foundation Lecture, or to the Esther Edie Memorial Fund at the South Dakota Resources Coalition, 928 Fourth Street, Brookings, SD 57006. Esther (Rude) Edie was born September 16, 1920, at Topeka, Kansas, to Harold and Helen (Chincholl) Rude and attended the rural schools of Shawnee County, Kansas. She graduated from Emporia State College in 1942 and later was awarded an MS degree at the University of Oregon (Eugene). After teaching physical education at Newton (KS) High School for several years, she became a theological student and teaching assistant at Central Bible College, Springfield, MO. In 1948, she joined the faculty of Sterling College, Sterling, KS and in 1954 was married to Richard W. Edie, also of the Sterling College faculty. They moved to Brookings in 1956 where he began teaching at SDSU. Through the years, Esther worked as professional summer staff in Girl Scout Camps in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Oregon. In Brookings, she became a trainer of Girl Scout leaders and then director of the Brookings and Minn-Ia-Kota Girl Scout camping programs. When the Minn-Ia-Kota Council acquired property at Oak Lake in the 1960s, she was a member of the site development and subsequent program committees. A lover of the natural world from childhood, Esthers continuing concern and energy were directed toward restoration of environmental integrity, justice and preservation. She saw this as a theological issue, the essence of the kind of dominion humans were given by God over the earth. In 1972, at the request of (then) Governor Richard Kneip, she convened a meeting of the states environmental and wildlife groups leading to the formation of the South Dakota Resources Coalition, now in its 34th year. She served as its president and legislative lobbyist the first 15 years and continued to write for its publication and serve on its board until her death. In the 1970s and 1980s, Esther served on two South Dakota Water Quality Advisory Committees, the Governors Council for the Future of South Dakota and the South Dakota Toxic Air Pollutants Committee. In 1975, she was named Water Conservationist of the Year by the South Dakota Wildlife Federation. She was invited to her environmental celebration at the Carter White House and in 1993, a blue ribbon panel of 10 national organizations named her South Dakota Environmental Woman of Action. She was a charter member of the Natural Resources Defense Council (1972) and a longtime supporter of numerous other environmental and justice organizations including The Wilderness Society, The Nature Conservancy, and the SD Peace and Justice Center. Another hat she wore was that of free lance editor. In the 1960s, she was the first editor of the South Dakota Nature Conservancys newsletter and was editor of the SDSU Economics Departments several volume study of agriculture for the U.S. Public Land Law Review Commission. She was an avid birder and longtime member of the South Dakota Ornithologists Union, serving on its board of directors for 16 years. She also loved gardening, reading and collecting books. Music was a life long avocation beginning with piano at age 8 and continuing piano and, later, organ study in her adult years. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Brookings, where she was an ordained elder and served at various times as organist, bible study leader, church school teacher, president and other offices for Presbyterian Women and on Presbytery and General Assembly Committees. She was an active supporter of the Faith Foundation Lecture series. She is survived by her husband, Richard W. Edie, one brother, Frank P. Rude (Dorothy) of Austin, TX, a nephew, Don Rude (Jean) of Austin TX and several nieces including Coral Blickstead of Sioux Falls, SD.