Howard Paul Kester, 85, Bucks County Court administrator
Howard Paul Kester, 85, of Newtown, a former Bucks County Court administrator and a longtime Quaker, died Saturday, Oct. 10, of congestive heart failure at Pennswood Village.
Howard Paul Kester, 85, of Newtown, a former Bucks County Court administrator and a longtime Quaker, died Saturday, Oct. 10, of congestive heart failure at Pennswood Village.
Born in Abington, he lived his entire life in Newtown, where he was a respected member of Newtown Monthly Meeting, part of the Religious Society of Friends.
He graduated from George School and in 1951 earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind.
Mr. Kester served three years in the Army before returning to school to earn a degree from Temple University School of Law in 1959.
He worked for the law firm of Power, Bowen & Valimont in Doylestown until 1961, when he was appointed law clerk for the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County. A year later, he accepted the newly created position of court administrator for the Bucks County courts.
In that role, he was responsible for new practices and programs aimed at making the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas an efficient system.
He was a founding member and past president of both the Pennsylvania and the National Association of Trial Court Administrators.
Mr. Kester served on the Newtown Township Planning Commission, the Newtown Area Regional Planning Commission, and the Bucks County Planning Commission.
A birthright Quaker, Mr. Kester served as clerk of Bucks Quarterly Meeting worship and ministry, and on the budget and nominating committee. At Newtown Monthly meeting, he served as clerk of worship and ministry.
"He would sit on the facing bench, and at the end of meeting he would get up and sum up everything that people had said. He was a good speaker," said his daughter Valerie Kester Morrissey.
Mr. Kester was a member of the Freemasons and the Newtown Historical Society. He was a trustee of Pennsbury Manor.
For 25 years, he played Santa Claus in Newtown, sporting his own white beard and a suitably round belly. "Children would say, 'Hi, Santa,' on the street," his daughter recalled. "He enjoyed it."
After retiring in 1997, Mr. Kester studied Chinese calligraphy and ink-and-brush drawing. In 2000, he went to China to visit the places he had read about in his studies.
Starting in the 1960s, he made jellies from the grapes and mint growing in his yard. The jellies won many ribbons at the Middletown Grange Fair.
He married Mary Tomlinson Kester. The two lived in Newtown and then Pennswood Village. She died in 2003.
Besides his daughter, he is survived by daughters Robin Davis Kester Patterson and Dana Louise Kester-McCabe; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; a brother; and a sister. A daughter, Karen Ann Kester, died in 2009. A sister died in 2003.
A memorial service is to be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, at the George School Meetinghouse, 1690 Newtown Langhorne Rd., Newtown, Pa. 18940. Burial is private.
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