Anna Lenore Uptain Watson

ANNA LENORE UPTAIN WATSON Graveside services for lifelong Lewis resident, Anna Lenore Uptain Watson will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26 at the Lewis Cemetery. Renay Neely will be officiating. A visitation has been scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Ertel Memorial Chapel from 9 a.m. until noon. Anna was born on March 8, 1908 in Artesia, Ariz. to Francis Marion and Sorena Marie (Peterson) Uptain. She passed away on Sunday, October 23, 2005 at the Southwest Memorial hospital at the age of 97. At the age of 5, Anna came to Colorado in a covered wagon with her parents. They homesteaded in what was called Yellow Jacket Canyon. Later knowing that this wasn’t the place for them to be, they moved to Lewis where Anna’s father was a blacksmith and a farmer. Anna attended schools but only finishing up to the 8th grade where she then stayed home with her family to help on the farm. In 1927 she married Earl Mitchell. To this union on July 24, 1928 Frances Alene was born. Anna’s marriage to Earl ended in divorce. Anna, while trying to support her daughter, found numerous jobs such as cleaning houses and doing laundry for the Lewis folks. Money was very tight at this time so Anna and her daughter stayed with her parents. A few years down the road a red headed freckled face young man started showing up at her father’s blacksmith shop. He became quite smitten with Anna and on April 6, 1963 Ernest Ross Watson became her second husband. To this union Ernest and Anna had no children. He became Frances’ step-father. Ernest had homesteaded six miles east of Cahone where he was a farmer. This is where Ernest, Anna and Frances began their new life together. Anna did what most farmers wives did working in the fields, planting a very large garden, canning, and sewing. She was a wonderful cook and made the best biscuits and gravy ever. She also loved having pretty flowers and saved every ounce of water to keep the flowers going. They spent time playing cards with many good friends and going fishing. (Although Anna hated eating fish and would turn up her nose if you mentioned she had to eat them.) In about 1947 Anna’s niece Sandy came to live with them. She spent most of her school years living with Anna and Ernest. They considered Sandy as their own. They continued to lie on the farm until 1972 when they decided that it was time to rest and sold their farm to move to the big city of Cahone. They purchased a new single wide trailer and for once were enjoying a quieter more relaxed lifestyle. Anna still had her garden and her beautiful flowers. On June 2, 1986 Ernest passed away and Anna continued to live in Cahone until her daughter and son-in-law moved to Dove Creek from Wyoming. Frances decided that her mother needed to be closer and they moved Anna’s trailer on their property, which was three miles west of Dove Creek. Anna was much happier being close to family. She was able to spend some good quality time with Frances before Frances passed away in 1999. Shortly after the death of her daughter, Anna decided she wanted to move to Cortez and found a cute little apartment in Valley Sun Village where she lived for approximately two years. She made some great friends there and enjoyed living in a big town, which is how she so often referred to Cortez as. Because of failing health Anna thought it was best that she move somewhere where she could be taken care of. She went to look at Madison House and decided that it would be alright to maybe live someday. In October 2001 Anna moved into Madison House and before long was calling it her home. She enjoyed the many activities they had, and made some wonderful new friends. To her surprise some of her friends from Cahone had moved there also. She always looked forward to letters, phone calls, and kin folk dropping by for a visit. While in Madison House she decided she wanted to start embroidering again and took on the task of making a 50 state bird quilt that she was very proud of. Surviving Anna are her brother, Alfred “Cab” Uptain of Bullhead City, Ariz.; her son-in-law, Lloyd Crapo of Dove Creek; her niece Sandy Sanderson and husband, Don of Dove Creek; her great-niece and nephew, Marti Sanderson of Cortez, and Kurt Sanderson of Grand Junction, Colo. She leaves her grandchildren, Aloya Nelson and husband, Gary of Upton, Wyo., Cathy Loftis and husband, Gary of Jay, Okla., Teresa Arthur and husband, Lennis of Dove Creek, and Ernie Crapo and wife, Vicky of Casper, Wyo.; 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great great-grandchildren; and her lifelong friend, Annie Mae Neely. Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband, Ernest Watson; her daughter, Frances; two infant sisters; and a nephew. One of Anna’s favorite sayings was, “Well my stars will you look at that,” We are sure she said this when she walked through the gates of Heaven. We will all miss her deeply, but she lived a great 97 years!