Theresa Hester, former Frenchtown councilwoman, dies at 55

Theresa Hester, a former Frenchtown council president and a prominent advocate for women and families, died on December 11 after a short battle with cancer.  She was 55.

Hester won a two-year unexpired term on the Frenchtown Borough Council in 1991, at age 23, as a Republican.  She defeated Democrat Barbara Hansen with 68% of the vote.  Democrats won the mayoral race in  Frenchtown that year, and Republicans won two of three council seats.

In 1993, Hester was unopposed in her bid for a second term.   She did not seek re-election in 1996 and instead campaigned actively for Rep. Richard Zimmer (R-Delaware) in his unsuccessful bid for an open U.S. Senate seat.

She took a position at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs in 1998, working at the state Division on Women, and then moved to the Department of Children and Families, where she advocated for domestic and sexual abuse victims.

Hester worked with the Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation, the New Jersey Women’s Political Caucus, and as vice president of the Eldridge Park School Parent Teacher Organization.  She served as a Democratic county committeewoman in Lawrence.

She is survived by her husband, Thomas Hester, Jr., a state government veteran, two teenage daughters, and an extended family that included her father-in-law, legendary journalist Tom Hester.   Her late father, Charlie Nunn, was a longtime employee of the Morris Township Road Department.

A visitation will be held on Sunday, December 17 from 1-4 PM at the Bermingham Funeral Home in Wharton, followed by a 4 PM funeral service.  Contributions in Hester’s memory may be made to Womanspace in Lawrence.