Clarice M. Keller Cawlfield Tomlinson, 99, died September 23, 2012, at home with her family and little dog Bitsy at her side. She was born in Lockwood, Missouri in June, 1913, to Winfield Scott Keller and Della Marlow Keller. She remembered helping her brother Rex milk cows and keep the farm going when their parents were ill during the 1918 flu epidemic. Rex was seven and she was only five! The rest of her long life was full of hard work and responsibility, but she always made time for fun and dancing and pretty things, many of which she made herself.
Clarice’s family moved to Oklahoma by covered wagon. She was a bit embarrassed about the wagon, but she fondly remembered the horses, Pet and Coalie. The family then moved with their first automobile to Rocky Ford, then Avondale. Clarice attended Avondale Methodist Church, Avondale School and and graduated from Centennial High School in 1931.
Dark-haired, blue-eyed Clarice caught the eye of dashing young Joe Cawlfield and, after he had chased off her other boyfriends, married him in 1932. They started a family, and she helped him run several businesses: a Texaco station, apartments, farms. She even ran a café during the summer of ’42, using the proceeds to buy a Singer sewing machine. In January 1943 their young son Darryl tragically died of complications of strep throat. Broken-hearted, Joe and Clarice went bravely on, and Clarice eventually had seven children, six of them surviving. A good mother, she expressed her artistic side when she sewed dresses for the five girls and cowboy shirts for son Joe, and when she painted, tiled, wallpapered, and upholstered furniture for the house. There were always books and music in the house, and Clarice sometimes entertained her children by dancing the Charleston.
Joe died in 1967 at age 61. Clarice worked as night receptionist at Parkview Hospital and as a secretary at the Pueblo Army Depot. She married long time family friend Earl Tomlinson in 1972 and they enjoyed five years of gardening, fishing, travel and spoiling grandchildren before his death in 1977. Her retirement gave Clarice time to paint hundreds of beautiful china pieces, winning many ribbons. She golfed, bowled, and traveled extensively, managing to visit six continents. And always, she danced. We hope she is dancing now.
Clarice is survived by her children: Barbara McPhaul, Pueblo West, Linda (Lee) Hall, Albuquerque NM, Marilyn (Gerald) Lehl, Joe (Gloria) Cawlfield, Karen (Rick) Thielbar, all of Pueblo, and Jill (Dallas) Martin of Arlington VA. Clarice’s 16 grandchildren are: Laron (Lisa) McPhaul MD, Jonell (Dan) Gist, Devin McPhaul, John (Chris) McPhaul; Trent, Avelon, Grant, and Kendra Haling; David Lehl, Brian (Danielle) Lehl; Nicole Cawlfield, Timothy (Amy) Cawlfield MD, Christopher Cawlfield Esq., Ryan (Marissa) Thielbar, Matthew (Karla) Thielbar PharmD; and MaryLea (Geoff) Harris; 13 great-grandchildren with another one due in April, and 2 great-great grandchildren. Numerous nieces and nephews survive. Her beloved brother, L. Rex Keller died in 1964, but her sister-in-law Mildred Keller Smith, age 98, survives.
Clarice was a member of Eagles Auxiliary #145, Columbine China Decorators Club, Pueblo Historical Society, and First United Methodist Church. She was a former 4-H leader of Avondale Sew ‘n’ Sews, past president of Avondale PTA, and past member of Eastern Star. If there were a club for “Best Mothers Ever,” she would be an honored member. Visitation, 4 – 7 p.m. Wednesday at George McCarthy Funeral Home. Funeral Service, 2:30p.m. Thursday, George McCarthy Historic Chapel, with interment at Mt. View Cemetery.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18