Edith R Opozda

Edith R Opozda November 13, 1932 - August 26, 2017 Edith (Edie) Rosselot Hester Opozda, 84, died at home on Saturday, August 26, 2017. Born in 1932 in Middletown, Ohio, she graduated from Mount St Joseph College in Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education. A gifted pianist and vocalist, she performed professionally in many venues and both with bands and as a solo artist. In 1957, she married Roger Allen Hester and eventually had four daughters. The family moved to Pompano Beach in 1970 and Roger passed away in January 1975. In December 1976, Edie married Richard (Dick) Opozda and gained a son. With a combined family of five children, Edie and Dick ran a successful business and Edie taught special education at a private school in Fort Lauderdale. In 1989, now child-free, they relocated to Saint Augustine and Edie began teaching special education for Saint Johns County School District. She taught at the Webster School, Osceola Elementary School, Hastings Elementary School and Evelyn B. Hamblen Center. She retired from teaching in 1998 and dedicated herself to her family. In 2005, she was Ketterlinus Elementary School’s Senior Volunteer of the Year. In her spare time, Edie loved to play the piano. Priceless memories were made around her baby grand, with singalongs and jam sessions as the soundtrack for the lives of her children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents, Leo and Mary Coles Rosselot; first husband, Roger Hester; two children, Harriet and Michael Hester; her brothers Charles and Edward Rosselot; her sisters Mary Margaret Moore and Trudy Sherman; and great-grandson Evan Purchase. Edie is survived by her husband, Richard; her sisters, Patricia Bendel, Phoebe Borman and Gabrielle Strand (Sheldon); her children Laura Martin (Joe), Mary Beth Purchase (Ed), LyndelOpozda (Lisa), Kate Dowdie (Steve) and Sarah Stone (Matthew); grandchildren Eddie Purchase (Chelsey), Elizabeth Still (Luke), Jimmy Purchase (Erin), Matthew Dowdie, Tori Sullivan (Jeff), Katie Martin, Meg Dowdie, Ashley Oliver, Emily Stone, Bryan Martin and Michael Stone; 14 great-grandchildren; an unbelievable number of nieces and nephews; and close-as-family friends Eve and Joseph Janocko, and Amy Arnow. Visitation services will be held on Thursday, August 31, 2017 from 5-7:00 p.m. at St. Johns Family Funeral Home. Arrangements are under the care of St Johns Family Funeral Home & Crematory.