HANOVER, NH – Esther May (Babb) Colby passed peacefully on Friday Oct. 17, 2025, at her home in Hanover, NH. at the age of 92.

Esther was born in Lewiston, Maine on August 31, 1933 to Gerald Romaine Babb of Weld Maine, and Gladys Jones of Fayette, Maine. Esther graduated from Farmington High School in June of 1951, and continued her education on a scholarship at the University of Maine Orono in 1960 graduating with a BA in Medical Technology in 1956. Esther earned an MS in Anatomy and Hematology from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan in 1960. Esther was a member of both the Phi Kappa Phi and the Sigma Xi Honor Societies. After graduating from Michigan State, Esther settled in Hanover, NH.

Esther began her career in the medical fields while in college at the University of Maine in 1956, working in both Eastern Maine General Hospital in Bangor, Maine and Edward Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich. She worked for 20 years at Dartmouth College on research projects with researchers Paul Guyre, Chuck Wira, and Edward Ball. Esther authored or co-authored 10 research papers during this period in the field of hematology and immunology.

Between 1962 and 1988 Esther and her husband, Dr. Emerson Colby, raised their four children. During this period and after Esther’s volunteer work covered many organizations; Ford Sayer Ski program, Girl Scouts as a troop leader, Boy Scouts, Montshire Museum (Founding Member), Pink Smock Gift shop associated with Dartmouth Medical Center, Meals On Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Hanover Blood Bank, and as a member of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College for over 60 years. Following hurricane Irene in 2011, Esther drove deliveries of food and goods to disaster victims in nearby Vermont.

Esther had many interests. One of her greatest passions was to be outside. She instilled this into all of her children, passing it onto many more. In 2003, Esther and her daughter Candy hiked the Long Trail in Vermont. They covered the 273 miles supported by Candy’s late husband Chris. During the hike the two coined the phrase: “Something good always happens outside”.

One of the best descriptions of how Esther lived her life was penned by poet Edgar Guest:

“Never arrogant or proud,

On she went with

manner mild;

Never quarrelsome

or proud,

Just as simple as a child;

Honest, patient,

brave and true;

Thus she lived from

day to day,

Doing what she

found to do

In a cheerful sort of way.”

Esther is survived her four children, Candace, Calen and his wife Sarah Emily, Colleen and her husband Andy, and Craig and his wife Norma Jean and their two children Sophia and Garrett.

A service for Esther will be held on Nov. 28 at the United Church of Christ in Hanover, NH.

In lieu of flowers, Esther stipulated she would appreciate donations to:

American Society of Clinical Pathology; Medical Technologists, Women’s Network of the Upper Valley, Girl Scouts, or Hospice