Esther Maxine Bartelt (Snoufffer)

March 5, 1924 - October 8, 2021

In the early-morning hours of Friday, October 8, 2021, at Friendship Village of Columbus (now known as Westerwood), the Good Lord turned to the other heavenly angels and said, “Buckle up, here comes Maxine.” Our tell-it-like-it-is mom, Esther Maxine Holt Snouffer Bartelt, who was born 97 years ago on March 5, 1924 in Radnor, Ohio, is now in the loving arms of our Lord and Savior. She had gone through a very, very slow health decline but now is free to fly again with a renewed spirit and energized body. A life well lived and enjoyed, she was a WWII nurse (trained at the University of Cincinnati through the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps), a bookkeeper, a comptometer operator, restaurant owner, elected political-office holder, realtor, and a lifelong Methodist, holding many offices as well as having taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, serving as a Stephen Minister, and participating in a multitude of other church activities. With a zinging art for humor and sarcasm, she most enjoyed kibitzing and playing cards with friends which generally ended up in some sort of an argument, but her card-playing buddies kept coming back for more. She was the mother of Susan (Snouffer) Kuhn Melvin of Worthington and Nancy (Snouffer) Morris of Zionsville, Indiana, the grandmother of four (of the world’s cutest) grandchildren (Stephanie Clemmons, Megan Covert, Robyn Griffey, and Christopher Kuhn), grandsons-in-law (Bill Clemmons, Chance Covert and Peter Griffey), granddaughter-in-law (Erica Kuhn), four great-grandchildren (Parker and Rayne Covert and Lauren and Rylie Kuhn), two sons-in-law (Guy Melvin and Arthur Morris), nieces, nephews, cousins and many, many friends. She was predeceased by husbands Fred Snouffer and A. W. “Bart” Bartelt. But more than any of these mentioned souls, she loved the Lord with every fiber of her being. Her family is forever indebted to the many healthcare and hospice workers who shared their gifts of compassion and medical expertise with Maxine. There will be a visitation at Linworth United Methodist Church, 7070 Bent Tree Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio, at 12:30 p.m., October 16, followed by a memorial service at 1:30. The church COVID protocol requires all to be masked. No flowers please, but in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the General Fund of Linworth United Methodist Church.