Date of death: 4/29/2026
Saint Meinrad Class: O 1967
EDWIN STANLEY “STAN” ESTERLE
Born to life July 26, 1941
Born to eternal life, April 29, 2026
Stan entered heaven peacefully, with his daughter and wife holding his hands and telling him how much they loved him.
How do you describe such a humble, beautiful man? His life was simple, blessed and he enjoyed it to the full! He was a man of integrity. He was born to serve. The Spirit of God was in him.
He was the second child of four siblings growing up in St. George Parish in Louisville, KY’s West End. At 14 he felt God calling him to the priesthood. After six years at St. Thomas Catholic seminary in Louisville, he advanced on for 5 more years to Saint Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. Having completed 11 years in seminary Stan was ready to receive diaconate but asked if he could take a sabbatical.
And so, he left the seminary and spent two years in the Peace Corps, living with the Ricohermoso family in the Philippines. He enjoyed teaching English to children and quickly learned to love the Filipino people. Many of them are still good friends today.
After his stint in the Peace Corps Stan returned home to the United States in Aug of ‘68 and told the archbishop he thought he wanted to have a family. So, Stan came out in search of the woman God wanted him to marry. On Nov 1, 1968, he went to a Catholic Alumni Club dance, and there she was! His future wife, Rose Ann Edlin, who actually knew some of his family. She too, was now searching for her life partner. After spending six years preparing to be a Sister of Charity of Nazareth, she let her vows expire and walked out into the world. She loved her religious community dearly and, like Stan, had a difficult time discerning whether to leave. One does not say “no” to Father God unless it’s a “yes” to something else God wants them to pursue.
God works in strange ways. Stan and Rose Ann both came out in August. It almost seemed like each of them was preparing for the other! On Aug 15, 1969, they married in St Thomas More Catholic Church. A new, exciting life was on the horizon!
They were overjoyed when their first child, Tina Michelle, was born in 1970! In 1972 God blessed them with their second child, a son, Mark Edwin! Three years later in 1975, Angela Joy came along! Their family was evidently complete.
In 1970 Stan was finishing up his master’s degree from Kent School of Social Work at U of L. Rose Ann was teaching middle school at St. John Vianney in the south end of Louisville. Their life was full!
It so happened that six Protestant churches in the Highlands of Louisville were looking for someone to lead an ecumenical endeavor and organize the community’s needs.
Eleven years in the seminary with a master’s degree in social work was hard to pass up. Stan got the job hands-down!
Highlands Community Ministries, HCM, was established in 1970. Today it is the oldest of the city’s 15 community ministries. Later on, Stan would be dubbed “the grandfather of community ministries”!
As executive director of HCM, Stan considered the needs of all people “from the cradle to the grave” as he often said. Stan created three children’s daycares, an after-school childcare as well as an adult daycare.
HCM had a fantastic program with HYR, Highlands Youth Recreation! Our children’s children are still learning how to play fair in many sports while enjoying healthy competition!
HCM is much more than what I’ve written here! In 1984 Stan developed the Highlands Court Apartments for the elderly and handicapped.
He was instrumental in starting The Festival of Faiths to promote interfaith relations. This interfaith event grew to be recognized by the US Senate as a model for interfaith activity.
Highlands Community Ministries offered many enrichment classes for adults as well as children.
Kindergarten Prep was HCM’s preschool academic/enrichment program. Children aged 4 & 5 had fun preparing for kindergarten. It ran from 1976 to 2005 but when more families needed daycare K Prep bowed out.
In 2011, Stan retired after 42 years as executive director of Highlands Community Ministries. It was hard to walk away from something he nourished for all those years, but the ministries continue with a good man in Troy Burden.
Stan always told everybody that he married “the most beautiful woman in the world”! Rose Ann just laughed and felt honored with his sweet ways!
Together, Stan and Rose Ann watched their family blossom when Tina married Shawn Boyle, Mark married Lorrie Smith and Angie married Jimmy Wilson! And today they are over-the-moon proud of their eight grandchildren who today range in age from 27 to 15!
In retirement, the many meetings and successful programs stopped for Stan. But now he had more family time and lots of music when a full house of 15 get together!
Stan loved camping! Ask the kids about putting up tents that kept falling down!
They went on about 25 cruises!! With great discounts of course! 🤭 Stan loved ballroom dancing! And another very popular HCM class was square dancing. They were called the HCM Highlanders!
Stan loved to travel and took “the most beautiful woman in the world” cruising around the Alaska coast, in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean!
When Stan asked Rose Ann to marry him, he promised her he was going to take her “around the world!”! And that he did! They even went to visit friends in the Philippines!! Now that was a long flight home!! He literally took her “around the world”!
Sadly, a bright light has gone out now. We will all miss this wonderful, humble but fun-loving man. However, his spirit and legacy will always live within each of us!
Stan was preceded in death by his father, John Edwin Esterle; mother, Mary Thelma Biven Esterle; siblings, Dennis, Monica, and John; and brother-in-law, John Edlin.
He is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Rose Ann Edlin Esterle; children; Dr Tina Boyle (Shawn), Dr. Mark Esterle (Lorrie), and Angela Wilson (Jimmy); grandchildren; Matt, Devin and Kaitlyn Boyle, Emily and Andrew Esterle, Mark, Savannah and Sofia Wilson; sisters-in-law, Karon Esterle and Sherry Esterle; brother-in-law, Norman Davis; sisters-in-law, Kathy Edlin Minor, Peggy Edlin Sanders (Rick), and Peggy Jo Edlin; brothers-in-law, Clark Edlin (Debbie) and Joe Edlin (Shirley); numerous nieces, nephews, other loving family members and friends.