Esther Eleze Rauch

Esther Nettles Rauch, a long-time resident of Maine, transitioned on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the Maine Veterans Home in Bangor, Maine. Esther began life on November 23, 1939, as the fourth child and second daughter of The Reverand Dr. Abraham Nettles and Mrs. Lola Nichols Nettles in Mobile, Alabama. Learning was highly valued in the Nettles' household and like others in the family, Esther read incessantly to discuss theology with her father. Esther spoke fondly of her parents as her father graduated from Tuskegee in 1907 when Booker T. Washington was the principal and had George Washington Carver as his science teacher. Esther also mentioned with pride her mother's great pleasure was parsing Greek verbs and her love of cooking.

Esther's passion for learning would propel her much of her life. After she graduated from high school, an early admission program run by the Ford Foundation took her to Fisk University, at age 15, where she excelled, became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and was a member of the 1960 Championship Contract Bridge Team. She married Mr. Gordan Fisher in 1960 and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961. After graduating from Fisk University, she went on to have a highly distinguished career in education and community leadership.

Esther attended graduate school at the University of Hawaii and earned her Master of Arts degree. Her work afforded her the opportunity to travel from Hawaii to California to Texas before landing in Washington, DC at the Center for Naval Analyses. After her divorce, it was at the Center that she met Rear Admiral Charles "Chick" Rauch, Jr. Chick was asked to escort Esther to a social function, and he began escorting her to numerous events. He drove her from Washington, D.C. to Ohio one weekend to meet his parents, not telling her where they lived. They married on April 25, 1975, and he continued to escort her to events around the world for over 46 years. After Chick retired from the Navy, they moved to Ohio where they both began teaching, earning additional degrees, and honors. At Ohio State University, Esther was a member of the Honor Society Phi Kappa Phi, earned a Master of Arts degree, and her Ph.D. in English. Her distinguished career began at Ohio State with her dissertation on English poet and dramatist John Dryden. Esther was an honorary member of the Department of English Alumni Advisory Board. She and Chick moved to Maine in 1981. She taught English at the Maine Maritime Academy and then at the University of Maine. She was the inaugural Constance H. Carlson Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at Husson College in Bangor, Maine.

Esther's accomplishments include the University of New England's Deborah Morton Award, an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Husson College, The Collins Center for the Arts Wilma Award, and panel member to recommend a Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Maine. She was also a former member of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees, Eastern Maine Medical Center Board, a charter member of the Eastern Maine Healthcare System Board, member of the Maine Humanities Council, the Farnsworth Museum Board, the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, and former Vice-President of the Bangor Theological Seminary. After leading literature discussion groups all over the state of Maine, Esther was a major participant in the Maine Humanities Council's development of the Literature and Medicine Program that was adopted by other states. One of her proudest accomplishments was bringing the Metropolitan Opera's HD Live in Schools program to Bangor High School. She took every chance to learn and experience something entirely new.

Paving the way to the gates of heaven was her beloved husband, Rear Admiral Charles F. "Chick" Rauch, Jr., Ret.; her parents, Rev. Abraham and Lola Nettles; brothers: Abraham Nettles, Rev. Marshall Nettles, and George Nettles; her sisters: Gertrude Baker and Harriett Eileen Bell.

Cherishing her memory are her son: Fritz (Marguerite) Rauch and grandson Andrew of North Stonington, CT; sister Patricia (former AL State Senator George H. Clay) Clay; brother, Jerrell Tyrone Nettles; sister-in-law Norma Rauch; sister-in-law, Shirley Nettles; nephews: Dr. Darrell (Donna) Powe, Mark (Cherisse) Nettles, Robert (Kimmie) Nettles, Julian Nettles, George Nettles, Jr., Adam (Audrey) Clay, and Jared (Amy) Clay; nieces: Dr. Gilaine Nettles, Erin Nettles, Karla Baker, Tonya (Lonnie) Spry, Lola (Terrance) Blackshire, and Cherise Nettles; goddaughters: Lisa Johnson and Brennan Mallonee; godson Corey Mallonee; adopted daughter Lesley Fisher; dear friend Alicia Anstead, her cherished caregiver, Catherine Allard, and devoted friend, LeeAnne Mallonee; other relatives, and friends.

Esther will be fondly remembered for her dangerously infectious laugh, quick smile, and her love of knitting, stylish dressing, as well as her love of teaching, reading, nature, art, cooking, singing, and music (particularly jazz, opera, and spirituals).

All are welcome to attend the funeral service for Dr. Esther N. Rauch held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at St. John's Episcopal Church, 225 French St., Bangor.

Interment TBD at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA where she will lay in rest with her beloved Chick.

Those who wish to remember Esther in a special way may make gifts in her memory to the Chamber Music Society at the Collins Center for the Arts (Chamber_Music_Society) or The Fisk Fund at Fisk University (The_Fisk_Fund).

Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.

Acknowledgements:

The family of Dr. Esther N. Rauch acknowledges with grateful appreciation the many acts of kindness, words of sympathy, and offered prayers tendered during their bereavement.

Her family wishes to express thanks to the staff at Boyd Place, Maine Veterans Home - Bangor, St. Joseph's Hospice, Birchbrook, and members of St. John's Episcopal Church for their care and support. Special thanks are also given to Catherine Allard, Alicia Anstead, and LeeAnne Mallonee for their dedicated care, support, attentiveness, and assistance.