Catherine Mary "Katie" Willbanks Hill

CATHERINE MARY “KATIE” WILLBANKS HILL Funeral services for lifelong Cortez resident, Catherine Mary “Katie” Willbanks Hill will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 11 at Arriola Bible Church. Interment will follow at Summit Ridge Cemetery. Pastor Kent Slyter will be officiating. A dinner will be held at Arriola Community Center following the interment services. Family and friends are invited to attend. A visitation has been scheduled for Friday evening from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Ertel Memorial Chapel. Katie was born on July 31, 1915 in Durango, Colo., the daughter of Frank and Louise (Jurglic) Tushar. She passed away on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at the Vista Grande Nursing Home at the age of 90. Katie was a member of the Arriola Bible Church, she was very active in the area Senior Citizens Center, and she was involved with the American Cancer Fund drives. Katie loved all aspects of farm life; some of her greatest pleasures came from gardening and raising flowers. She was well-known for her McPhee sweet corn and was a wonderful cook. Surviving Katie are her children, Shirley McIntosh and husband, Howard of Tulsa, Okla., Ginger Cowan and husband, Bob of Cortez, Gloria Barker and husband, Bill of Tulsa, Okla., Danny Willbanks of Wilsonville, Ore., Donna Butt and husband, Nelson of Cortez, Glen Willbanks and wife, Janet of Yellow Jacket, Colo., and Dale Willbanks and wife, Dinah of Chimney Rock, Colo.; her daughter-in-law, Melva Willbanks of Grand Junction, Colo.; her step-children, Clinton Hill, Arlon Filmore, Beverly McClay, Carolyn Squires, Molly Warren, Jill Smith, and Steve Hill. Also surviving Katie are her 25 grandchildren. Preceding her in death were her parents; her husbands, Ray Sanford Willbanks and L.V. Hill; her son, Stanley Willbanks; her step-son, Bruce Hill; and her sisters, Ann Mead and Annette McNeace. Memorial contributions may be made in Katie’s name to the Arriola Bible Church.