Esther Isabella Berkan

Esther Isabella Berkan of Midland, Michigan, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2026, at the age of 95. Born on January 26, 1931, in Spring Hill, Iowa, she was the daughter of David and Lois (Richards) Ballantine. Raised on the family farm near Denison, Iowa, Esther developed an early love for western stories and horses that remained with her throughout her life.

After graduating from Arion High School, she attended the University of Sioux Falls, where her competitive spirit on the basketball court first drew the attention of Norman Berkan. They married on August 4, 1951, and began their life together in Elmo, Kansas, where Norman served as minister of the local Baptist church. His ministry later took them to Killaloe, Ontario, before they settled in mid-Michigan. In 1964, Esther returned to school and earned a master’s degree in library science from Central Michigan University. She went on to enjoy a 25-year career as a reference librarian at Delta College, where she was known for her dedicated support of students in their academic research.

Esther was a woman of many creative talents. She excelled at baking, cake decorating, sewing, and oil painting, and she lovingly restored old carousel horses. She also rekindled her lifelong passion for horses, taking riding lessons, purchasing her own horse, and competing in halter, dressage, and costume classes. It was at the stable where she boarded her horse that she met her second husband, Lloyd Brown. They married on November 28, 1999, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and spent many happy years together on their horse farm until Lloyd’s passing in 2011. In her later years, Esther lived in Bay City and then moved to Midland in 2023 to be closer to her daughter, bringing along her beloved dog, Tonto.

She will be remembered for her creativity, confidence, enthusiasm, and humor, and for the deep love she showed to family, friends, and pets. Esther is survived by her daughter Sharon Berkan-Dent (Stanton Dent), daughter-in-law Linda Berkan (Roger), and grandchildren Kallisse Dent and Audrey Berkan. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Rev. Norman Berkan; her second husband, Lloyd Brown; her parents, David and Lois Ballantine; her son, Roger Berkan; her sister, Arletta Brown (Buzz); and her brother, John Ballantine (Vicky).