St. Frances Xavier Catholic Church of Wilmette, IL was founded over 100 years ago in 1904. Then Wilmette was a village of 3500 people. English speaking Catholicc residents were looking for a home because several other nearby Catholic churches had business conducted only in German. St. Frances' present church built in 1939, was designed in the Late Gothic Revival mode by McCarthy, Smith and Eppig. Its stained glass windows are made from English and German imported glass by the famed F. X. Zetter Studios of Munich, Germany and New York. It is a strikingly beautiful church.

A recent article in Wikipedia indicates that now the population of Wilmette is about 28,000. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the affluent North Shore District. In 2007, Wilmette was named as one of the top 10 best places in U S to raise children - per Business Week.

In 1994, Esther painted the watercolor pictured here. It was a wedding gift for two good friends of hers.