Esther Lau Gilbert lived on the sunny side of the street. Even during her final battle with cancer, she focused on how fortunate she was, how much she loved her doctors, her treatment team, her family, her friends, her coworkers, and her husband, Willy. Willy was firmly entrenched at the top of that list.
Esther Lau was born on April 18, 1957, in Hong Kong. She was the third of four children: Louisa, Lillian, Esther, and Luther. Their family of six lived in a 400-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment and shared a love of reading, music, and — big surprise — food.
At the ripe old age of 14, Esther moved to Santa Barbara to live with her aunt and uncle’s family, who were Louisa’s godparents, and attend Dos Pueblos High School. She went on to major in French Literature at UCSB with a minor in Business Administration. At this point, she spoke Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and French fluently. Later she would add “kitchen” Spanish and a healthy dose of Korean to the mix.
