Esther H. Fifield, 85, a retired state representative from Northwest Indiana who championed educational, arts and environmental causes during her 11-year tenure, died Wednesday, March 27, in the Hilltop Center, Lake Bluff. While in the Indiana General Assembly, Mrs. Fifield chaired the House Ethics Committee and was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest award bestowed by the governor for her career in the legislature. It was her first paid job; before that, she had been a housewife, said her daughter, Constance Moore. The former Esther Harper was born in Lafayette, Ind., but grew up in Crown Point, where she spent most of her life. She attended Indiana and Valparaiso Universities, and in 1938 married Elwood B. Fifield–a member of a well-known local political family and someone she had known from growing up in the same town. “Because she didn’t have her degree, she always continued educating herself,” her daughter said. Mrs. Fifield had a fascination with learning and antiquities. Her home library bulged with books whose margins were filled with notes and markings. But it was her resume as a homemaker that appealed to voters. Though Mrs. Fifield had been appointed to the Indiana Arts Commission in the 1970s, the state’s Republican leadership picked her to complete her husband’s term in the House of Representatives when he died in 1979. She was re-elected five times by wide margins, once getting more votes in her Republican district than Ronald Reagan. She retired in 1990, and volunteered for several years as a docent in the Oriental Institute of Chicago. She was also a fan of classical music and earlier in life had taken flying lessons, stopping shy of getting a pilot’s license. “That’s the way she was,” her daughter said. “People would say she marched to her own drum.” Mrs. Fifield moved to an assisted living facility on the North Shore a few months ago, but had planned to return to Indiana, her daughter said. Mrs. Fifield is also survived by another daughter, Lee Strahan; a son, Barringer; a granddaughter; and two great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Tuesday in Crown Point.
