A memorial open house celebrating the life of Bellevue native Janis A. (Russell) Hester will be held Sunday, March 7 at Samena Swim and Recreation Club in Lake Hills from 1-4 p.m.

Mrs. Hester died in Yuma, Ariz., Feb. 11, 2010, following a decline in health.

Born June 2, 1939 to Ward and Doris Russell, Mrs. Hester graduated from Bellevue High School in 1957. During high school she worked at the drug store on Old Main Street as well as at Toy’s Cafe. She attended one year at Western Washington University in Bellingham, then returned to Bellevue to continue family tradition by attending beauty school.

Her father, Ward, owned and operated the Bellevue Barber Shop on Old Main Street from 1947-1985; her mother attended beauty school; her brother, Wally, was a barber; her husband was a barber with the Lake Hills Barber Shop; her daughter, Karlynn Howard, worked with her from 1978 till she retired in 1999 at Finishing Touch and still does hair at Beautiful People Hair Design; her son, Kurt, currently is part-owner of the Bellevue Barber Shop with a cousin.

Mrs. Hester met her husband, Edmond Leon Hester, at a dance in Tacoma and they married in 1959. Leon’s Air Force career took them around the United States and the world. Daughter, Karlynn, and son, Kurt, were born while Leon served at Paine Field in Everett, following which they were stationed in Spangdahlem, Germany, then in Wichita, Kan., where son, Russell, was born.

After her husband’s retirement from the Air Force in 1976, the family moved back to Bellevue, where Mrs. Hester took up the family business once again. She worked at Gordon Michael Salon in the Crossroads Mall for two years before buying the salon and changing the name to Finishing Touch Styling Salon. In 1987 she relocated the shop across from Crossroads Mall on Northeast Eighth Street, where she was owner/operator until she retired in June 1999.

After retirement, the Hesters divided their time between Quincy, Wash., and Yuma.

Preceded in death by her parents, Mrs. Hester is survived by her husband, Leon; daughter Karlynn (Rich) Howard; sons, Kurtis (Tara) Hester and Russell Hester; and grandchildren Tyler, Bryan and Dan Howard, Christie and Amanda Hester, and Ashley, Sarah and Madison Hester.

Samena Club is located at 15231 Lake Hills Boulevard in Bellevue.