ClydEllen (Curtis) Willott

On May 26, 1951, Ellen married Harold Curtis, and they spent 57 wonderful years together before Harold’s passing in February of 2008.

ClydEllen is survived by her daughter Deborah (LaCrosse) Crull, son-in-law Elden (Nick) Crull, grandson Shane LaCrosse and his partner Samantha Luepke, all of Yakima. She is also survived by her niece Carrie Larson of Yakima, nephew Randall Riddle of Lincoln City, OR., and cousins Judy Still of Arkansas and Barb Tate, Ron Dixon and Roger Biles of Yakima, Mike Rogers of Seattle, Larry Rogers of Spokane. Sister-in-law Arlene Hall and several nieces and nephews on Harold’s side of the family, also survive her.

ClydEllen is preceded in death by her first husband Harold Curtis (2008) and second husband Bob Willott (2022), her parents, sister Betty Riddle (2022) and her son-in-law Dan LaCrosse (1999).

My mother was a wonderful mom! I was very fortunate to have such a special person as my mom. My dad and her had a great marriage and therefore gave me a childhood that was the envy of my friends.

Mom had several jobs when she was younger. She was waitressing at the time when she met my dad’s older sister who later introduced them at a dance- and the rest was history. She also worked at a couple of fruit warehouses as an apple packer. This gave her the summers off, and she would spend her time hosting fantastic sleepovers for my girlfriends and I. They always wanted to come to our home as mom always had lots of food and treats for us. She was also assistant Campfire Leader for a while and was always sewing something for me.

Over the years her and my dad very much enjoyed dancing. One funny story happened when wigs were ‘the Thing to wear’- mom wore her wig while dancing and as it started to slip around on her head, my dad decided not to inform her because he thought it was too funny. Close to the end of the evening she noticed in a mirror and was so upset as she was always so fashionable and wanted to look her best!

Mom and dad enjoyed camping and traveling in their motor home and really loved meeting relatives and friends for weekend getaways. They loved their dogs and traveled with them when they could. Mom was a great hostess and would always have a pie ready for her brother-in-law Gerry Hall.

Mom was so excited when her grandson (Shane) was born, she stepped gracefully into the role of grandmother and helped me immensely – because I didn’t know what to do!

Her and dad spoiled him, and he would stay over quite often. They would take him along on camping expeditions and trips to the ocean. Shane remembers a special time when grandma gave him a California Raisin with a saxophone and told him “She thought it looked like him”. He told her “No grandma, I play the clarinet”. Little did he know, we had a saxophone waiting for him, that grandma knew about. Another time Shane remembers, grandma had wrapped a new, birthday watch in about 10 different oversized boxes and he had to unwrap everything to get to it! She always had a great sense of humor.

In later years- mom loved her flower gardening and was involved in the Yakima Garden Club with me and it was a great social opportunity which she really enjoyed. She was always very sociable and made friends easily wherever she lived. Mom loved to crochet and was always giving her blankets away.

Mom married Bob Willott on May 2, 2012, at the age of 85. She continued to enjoy dancing with Bob, and they would often make trips to the casino, but they always had a limit to spend! In 2021 she sold her home in Terrace Heights and moved to independent living at Solista where she spent her last years. She really liked the staff there and continued to enjoy gambling and playing bean bag- which she was pretty good at!

When she got sick, she was so glad to be able to stay in her home and was very thankful for the help she received from Samantha and Shane & their health care staff – Jessica, Lisa and Esmeralda.

Mom was very content and thankful for a long and blessed life. We will greatly miss her and her funny little sayings, but we know she is in a much better place with the Lord and hopefully still dancing!

A visitation for ClydEllen will be held Wednesday, April 30, 2025 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Keith & Keith Funeral Home, 902 West Yakima Ave, Yakima, WA 98902. A memorial service will occur Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM also at Keith & Keith Funeral Home.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at keithandkeith.com for the family.