Wilma Elliott

Wilma Faye Elliott was born December 19, 1918, to Loretta Dantice and Vernon Hone Sanderson at the home they built on the Seven Mile Road north of Monte Vista, Colorado. Her parents met in the San Luis Valley after moving there from different parts of Missouri. Her paternal grandparents were Elizabeth Caroline Hone and William James Sanderson. Her maternal grandparents, James Lafayette Dantice and Eliza Jane Ash, died before their family moved to Colorado. After a short illness, Wilma passed away in the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins surrounded by family on October 14, 2008. She was a strong and vibrant eighty-nine year old, just two months short of her ninetieth birthday. Wilma attended Sargent Community School and the Sargent Community Church and graduated with the class of 1937. As a high school senior, she drove a school bus, as did her daughter many years later. She attended Colorado Women’s College in Denver for two years and finished her degree at Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley where she was a member of a sorority. While in college, she joined the Episcopal Church. Wilma was a Sargent girl. As a schoolgirl, she played the piano and the accordion, rode her horse, and spent time with her brothers, friends, and a large extended family. While she was in high school, she met Cy/Thad Elliott who was a Monte guy. Being in Rainbow Girls and Demolay, respectively, they enjoyed those Rainbow dances in Monte Vista. Cy followed Wilma to college in Greeley. Wilma’s mother insisted she get a teaching degree along with her business degree. She taught in Atwood, Colorado, and at Bear Creek High School in the Denver area, which was then a small country school. She also worked as a bookkeeper in both Denver and Monte Vista. Wilma and Cy were married in Santa Fe on July 18, 1942. After WWII, Cy finished his education in Greeley, and they returned to Monte Vista for Cy to teach in the Monte Vista schools. Over the years, Wilma and Cy entered the farming profession. They built a wonderful life for themselves and their three children, Debbie, Thad, and Dona. Together they raised sheep and grew potatoes, alfalfa, and barley. Wilma’s bookkeeping and accounting skills were an integral part of the business. She made most of her daughters’ clothes, to include a wedding dress. She lived moderately, accepted with grace what came her way, never complained, and always expected the best. She was a spiritual human being who savored the sunsets, the birds outside her window, and all the seasons on the farm. She took great pride that all her children and grandchildren finished their college educations. Wilma and Cy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on July 18, 1992, with all of their children and grandchildren at the cabin. Cy passed away on February 13, 2001, at home in Monte Vista. During her lifetime, she enjoyed many activities. Bridge was one of her favorites. Many of her friendships were formed during WWII when the men were overseas and the wives got together for bridge club. At one time, she was in three bridge groups. She was also active in a local extension club. Wilma and Cy’s potluck group began following the war and continued throughout most of their lives. When Cy was a Rio Grande County Commissioner, they enjoyed traveling to meetings around the state. They felt fortunate to travel to Germany, Austria, and Italy when Dona taught in Brindisi, Italy. They also enjoyed trips to Hawaii, Lake Powell, New York City, Washington, D.C., California, New Mexico, the Southwest, and the Southeast. A special trip was a cruise in the Caribbean to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. Wilma was a Cub Scout Den leader, a 4-H sewing teacher, a P.T.A parent volunteer, and a Sunday school teacher at the Sargent Community Church. A great memory is the P.T.A. mothers teaching the junior high students how to dance in the school cafeteria! Wilma and Cy took great interest in their children and grandchildren’s activities. Wilma always felt a need to be informed over the years using the World Book encyclopedia and World Atlas for information. She never entered the “google era” but she knew how to access information. She used her computer to do the books and to play bridge, and she enjoyed her daily paper, crossword puzzle, and Sudoku. Books, to include library books, enriched her life. Wilma’s passion was her family. She was a matriarch in every sense of the word, and her family was devoted to her. Wilma made her home for sixty years on the Five Mile Road north of Monte Vista where she always welcomed her growing family. Everyday, Wilma looked to the west to see the beautiful San Juan Mountains beyond her flower garden and to the east to see the Sand Dunes and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. She and Cy enjoyed picnicking on the Rio Grande River and taking care of their cabin at the Legion Park between South Fork and Creede. Wilma, like her mother, loved having a beautiful lawn and garden. Thanks to her son, she was able to enjoy her later years in her own home. She looked forward to her daughters’ daily phone calls and the upcoming visits of family and friends. All will miss her homemade applesauce, rhubarb pie, and Danish Christmas roll. She was her family’s liaison between the past and present. Her husband, Cy Elliott, parents, Loretta and Vernon Sanderson, special aunt Leafy Travis, and brothers Keith and Calvin Sanderson preceded her in death. Two daughters, one son, two sons-in-law, and one daughter-in-law to include Debbie and Tom Graff of Fort Collins, Thad and Deanne Elliott, who live in the home where Wilma was born and raised, and Dona and Jim Force of Annapolis, Maryland, survive her. Her grandchildren are David and Jamee Graff and great grandchildren Ellie, Ryan, Marc, and Addie of Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska; Amy and Tracy Terrell and great granddaughters Madison, Megan, and Katelyn of Medicine Bow, Wyoming; Kevin and Brooke Graff of Centennial, Colorado; Emily and Kyler Brown of Reno, Nevada; Carrie Elliott of Breckenridge; Laura Elliott of Arcata, California; and great grandson Kelton Force of Maryland. Her children, grandchildren, and community are the beneficiaries of her great generosity. Many nieces and nephews and special friends also survive her. A memorial service will be planned in Monte Vista. At that time, her ashes will be buried in the family plot at the Monte Vista cemetery. Watch the newspaper and email for notice of this event. The memorial may be in December, but the plans are tentative. Memorials in Wilma’s memory may go to Monte Vista Carnegie Library in care of Wilma Elliott Memorial, Carnegie Public Library, Attention: Carol Lee Dugan or Becky Gossard, 120 Jefferson, Monte Vista, CO 81144

Wilma Elliott

December 19, 1918 - October 14, 2008