Esther Stenstrom arrived at Oak Ridge in 1943, after she and her husband were picked to work in the secret city. Stenstrom worked alongside her husband in the engineering department at the Y-12 Plant as a mechanical drawer. There, Stenstrom created design drawings for engineers who would take the drawings and use them to machine parts in the shop.
Strenstrom had her first child shortly after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in August 1945. Shortly thereafter, Stenstrom and her husband returned to Florida, where they settled down to enjoy family life.