Betty BeeJay Zans

Mrs. BeeJay Zans, 86, passed away, on February 25th, 2011 after a short illness, in Castle Rock. Mrs. Zans, neé Betty Jane Maxwell, was raised in San Angelo, Texas and attended Sul Ross University before getting a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Mexico. She worked and studied art in Santa Fe and Taos and taught art in several locations around the Southwest. She studied art and guitar in San Miguel Allende in Mexico. In her travels as an army wife, she lived in Taiwan and Italy before returning to the Southwest. She continued to teach art everywhere she went. After her husband’s retirement from the Army in 1972, they moved to Douglas, Arizona, where she worked as a sports editor and columnist for the local newspaper, and volunteered as president of the Art Association, art gallery director, founder of the Two Flags International Art Festival, and was active in her church community. In 1977, she went back to college, studying archeology and anthropology. After moving to Castle Rock in 1994, she became active in the Christ Episcopal Church community, helping to establish the Artisan’s Guild there. She is survived by her daughter Ellen Collier-Zans and grandchildren Erin and Colin of Franktown, CO; her brother Ted Maxwell of Arkansas, her nieces Sharon Lombardo of Denver, CO; Janet Bucknell of Cody, WY; her nephews Paul Lombardo of Rochester, NY; Mack Frost of Cody, WY and other nieces, nephews and friends.

Arrangements under the direction of Olinger Andrews Caldwell Gibson Chapel, Castle Rock, CO.