Ester Bunyan Passes Away
Ester and Matt BunyanPhotograph Contributed by Patricia and Mansur Abahsayn on Behalf of Matthew and Ester Bunyan
Ester Bunyan arrived in Saudi Arabia with her two children, Marilyn and Norton, in 1946, two years after her husband, Matt Bunyan, began working for Aramco. She sailed on a Dutch freighter from San Pedro, arriving in Ras Tanura 49 days later. The freighter was the first foreign ship to carry Americans across the Pacific after World War II. On board were wives and children going to Arabia and a number of missionaries returning to India.
During her 20 years in Arabia, Ester was active in the women's club, played bridge, enjoyed bowling, joined the garden club, worked for awhile at the airbase PX and joined the Dhahran Outing Group. She was also a substitute teacher at the American school.
The family left Arabia in 1966. Matt passed away in 1976. Ester passed away this May. She lived to be 97.