Obituary for Beth Ann Troester
Beth Ann Troester, 62, entered the presence of her Savior, the Lord Jesus, Tuesday, October 8, 2019, at the Sussman House in Rockport. A service to celebrate Beth’s life will be held at 2:00 pm, Sunday, October 20, 2019, at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.
Beth was born in Moncton, New Brunswick March 11,1957, the daughter of Al and Eileen Troester joining her brother Gary and sister Karen. Those left to honor Beth’s memory include her brother Gary and his wife, Venila, their children and grandchildren; her sister Karen Wiersma and her husband, David, their children and grandchildren, as well as other members of her extended family.
When she was born her father was the pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church. In 1960 he became the academic dean and Bible teacher at the then Glen Cove Bible School and the family moved to Rockland, Maine.
Beth attended Rockland schools through the eighth grade and then attended the Glen Cove Christian Academy high school for two years. Feeling the need to be a witness for Jesus (which she faithfully did throughout her life), she transferred to the Rockland District High School, from which she graduated. She attended the New Brunswick Bible Institute for one year; however, being very artistic, she wanted to get art training along with Bible, so she transferred to Biola University in California. After graduating she attended the University of Maine where she studied Russian for two years.
Why Russian? At the age of five Beth came to an understanding of the reality that she was a sinner in need of a Savior and placed her faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. At the age of eight she saw a map of the world at a missionary conference with streamers pointing to where missionaries were located. Seeing a large area of the map without streamers she asked why, and was told that was Russia where missionaries were not allowed at that time. She determined then that is where she would go to be a missionary someday. Russians became an important part of her thinking. A Russian “factory” ship would anchor in Rockland's harbor each summer and she would take Russian Bibles out and give them out to workers on the ship. After working a variety of jobs, the day finally came when missionaries were allowed into Russia and Beth became a missionary there for eleven years. In later years when back in the states she had a knack for finding Russians.
When her mother was no longer able to care for herself due to encroaching dementia, Beth elected to stay in the States and cared for her mother for the next ten years until her death in 2018. In the time before her mother died in March 2018, Beth began to have physical issues of her own and was unable to work. In February of 2019 she began to have pains in the right side of her face which became very severe. It was learned she had a tumor on her trigeminal nerve. In July, a surgical biopsy revealed she had B-cell lymphoma. When three chemo treatments were too hard on her body it was decided to discontinue them in early September, but the pain continued to increase. After a fifth trip to the ER, on October first she was accepted by hospice and admitted to the Sussman House. After a week being wonderfully cared for, she stepped into the presence of her Savior. The family would like to thank the staff and volunteers at Sussman House, Rockport, for their loving care and support for Beth and her family, as well as Katherine Burchard who lived with Beth as her caregiver for two months.
A reception will follow the service at the funeral home's 104 Limerock reception center. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Child Evangelism Fellowship, 431 Campground Road, Livermore Falls, ME 04254. To share a memory or story with Beth’s family, please visit their online Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.
Beth was born in Moncton, New Brunswick March 11,1957, the daughter of Al and Eileen Troester joining her brother Gary and sister Karen. Those left to honor Beth’s memory include her brother Gary and his wife, Venila, their children and grandchildren; her sister Karen Wiersma and her husband, David, their children and grandchildren, as well as other members of her extended family.
When she was born her father was the pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church. In 1960 he became the academic dean and Bible teacher at the then Glen Cove Bible School and the family moved to Rockland, Maine.
Beth attended Rockland schools through the eighth grade and then attended the Glen Cove Christian Academy high school for two years. Feeling the need to be a witness for Jesus (which she faithfully did throughout her life), she transferred to the Rockland District High School, from which she graduated. She attended the New Brunswick Bible Institute for one year; however, being very artistic, she wanted to get art training along with Bible, so she transferred to Biola University in California. After graduating she attended the University of Maine where she studied Russian for two years.
Why Russian? At the age of five Beth came to an understanding of the reality that she was a sinner in need of a Savior and placed her faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. At the age of eight she saw a map of the world at a missionary conference with streamers pointing to where missionaries were located. Seeing a large area of the map without streamers she asked why, and was told that was Russia where missionaries were not allowed at that time. She determined then that is where she would go to be a missionary someday. Russians became an important part of her thinking. A Russian “factory” ship would anchor in Rockland's harbor each summer and she would take Russian Bibles out and give them out to workers on the ship. After working a variety of jobs, the day finally came when missionaries were allowed into Russia and Beth became a missionary there for eleven years. In later years when back in the states she had a knack for finding Russians.
When her mother was no longer able to care for herself due to encroaching dementia, Beth elected to stay in the States and cared for her mother for the next ten years until her death in 2018. In the time before her mother died in March 2018, Beth began to have physical issues of her own and was unable to work. In February of 2019 she began to have pains in the right side of her face which became very severe. It was learned she had a tumor on her trigeminal nerve. In July, a surgical biopsy revealed she had B-cell lymphoma. When three chemo treatments were too hard on her body it was decided to discontinue them in early September, but the pain continued to increase. After a fifth trip to the ER, on October first she was accepted by hospice and admitted to the Sussman House. After a week being wonderfully cared for, she stepped into the presence of her Savior. The family would like to thank the staff and volunteers at Sussman House, Rockport, for their loving care and support for Beth and her family, as well as Katherine Burchard who lived with Beth as her caregiver for two months.
A reception will follow the service at the funeral home's 104 Limerock reception center. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Child Evangelism Fellowship, 431 Campground Road, Livermore Falls, ME 04254. To share a memory or story with Beth’s family, please visit their online Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.