Alice Louise Lyon

ALICE LOUISE LYON Funeral services for former longtime Cortez resident, Alice Louise Lyon will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 23 at the Ertel Memorial Chapel. Interment will follow at the Cortez Cemetery. Louise was born on December 15, 1919 in Viola, Kansas. She passed away on Friday, September 17, 2004 in Broomfield, Colo. at the age of 84. Louise Hare embarked on her nursing career in Western Kansas in the mid 1940’s. She soon joined the Army Nurse Corps and was stationed in the French Quarters in Louisiana where she cared for German Prisoners of War. She was an avid champion of her patients and heard from some of them for years following the war. Following the war, she landed in Albuquerque, N.M. to assist an army buddy. She was eventually invited to come to the Cortez area. She began working at Southwest Memorial Hospital in the late 1940’s. On February 5, 1949 in Denver, Colo. Louise married Rex Neil Lyon. After a small hiatus to the Denver area, Louise Lyon returned to Cortez and worked in the community for 30 years. She worked in the offices of several doctors, and then many years at Southwest Memorial Hospital. She worked in the emergency room, operating room, and the medical and surgical floors. Louise was an ardent patient advocate, a novelty in those days. She knew her patients, and had a sixth sense of what it would take to get them to comply with their plan of care. She often yearned to become a medical missionary on one of the reservations in the area. One day, she realized that she could be that missionary right here in her own community. She loved Cortez and the entire area. Her infectious smile and zest for life made her a hit with her community of care. At the time of her retirement she had assisted in the deliveries of many hundreds of babies. Following retirement she worked for the Montezuma County Health Department. She continued her “caring” ways with her family and new community in Broomfield, Colo. after leaving Cortez in 1983. Louise was instrumental in raising funds for the construction of the Broomfield Senior Center and spent many happy hours there volunteering for meals, and especially the Senior Dances. She often danced two or three times a week in the Denver area with other senior groups. She never knew a stranger, and had a witty, entertaining and loving personality. Louise was able to be around and watch her five grandchildren grow and mature. Last fall, she even traveled to Arizona to meet her great-grandson. All of her grandchildren adored their “Granny Lou” and she will certainly be missed. Surviving Louise are her children, Nancy Montgomery and husband, Monty, Linda Selkirk and husband, Steve, and Peggy Sherman and husband, Bill. She leaves six grandchildren, Colby and wife, Amanda, Tyler, Sara, Travis, Ryne, and Cara; as well as one great-grandson. Preceding her in death were her parents; and her husband, Rex Neil Lyon. Memorial contributions can be made in Louise’s memory to the Broomfield Senior Center, Alzheimer’s Association or to the Presbyterian Church of Broomfield.