Elizabeth E. Atkinson

Neal and Elizabeth raised five kids while they moved across the country following Neal's career in construction: Puerto Rico, Kansas, Colorado and Texas. In every location, they built or remodeled their house to fit their growing family and explored the locale. Church, scouting and singing were also highlights for their lives. She was pleased to see a grandson become her tenth Eagle Scout in 2018.

Neal's sudden death in 1982 and the arrival of grandchildren changed her focus, but not her devotion to family. She became the "extra hands" that helped raise her grandchildren; first in Houston and then in Grand Junction. Her weekly Sunday Dinners were legendary, complete with homemade bread and jam, friends and family. She made quilts for her kids and grandkids marking major milestones of their lives, as well as sewed costumes for Halloween and school projects.

Elizabeth was boundlessly generous with her time to her church, always making friends where it mattered, in prayer groups and in service to others. In Grand Junction, she attended First Presbyterian Church, then was Elder and member of Monument Presbyterian Church where she landscaped, gardened, built a library and sang, and finally attended First United Methodist Church, where she found a loving community. Each place quickly found her growing steady in her faithfulness and her friendships.

When Elizabeth was two weeks old, her mother wrote that she already knew the taste of sweetness, the comfort of warmth and the love of family. Her mother wondered if Elizabeth would also know those essentials when she is "an old grandmother, in her second childhood, nodding before a fire?" She did. Elizabeth has patiently waited for this time to rejoin husband Neal and her Creator.

Elizabeth is survived by siblings, Fred (Wanda) Warren, Patricia Cary, and Sam (Karen) Warren; sisters-in-law, Lois Hamilton and Marilyn Buffum; sons, Alan (Valentina) Atkinson, Gene (Paige) Atkinson, Lee (Chrissy) Atkinson, and Clark (Mary Hammond) Atkinson; daughters, Ann (Rick) Peterson, and Liz (David) Atkinson Martin; nieces, nephews, 16 beloved grandchildren, and one great-grandson who will cherish her memory.

A celebration of life will be at First United Methodist Church Saturday, July 27 at 11:00 with a graveside service in Tisdale, Kansas, Monday, July 29 at 10:00 a.m.

Contributions may be made to HopeWest Hospice, Catholic Outreach or First United Methodist Church. Many thanks to Aspen Ridge Special Care Center for their loving care during the last two and one half years.