Ethel Jane Ertel Field

Former area resident Ethel Jane Ertel Field died Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, in Quincy, Wash. She was 90. Known as "Janie," she was born to John Walter and Ida Matilda Hamilton Ertel on Feb. 8, 1922, in Mancos. Her twin, John Walter, known as "Jack," was born a few minutes later, and her family said she was always protective of him. Her father bought the Ertel Funeral Home in Mancos, which he eventually moved to Cortez. His wife, Ida, died in 1928, leaving him with five young children to raise. He met and married Edna Lindsay in 1932. The blended family soon included eight children, who loved growing up on a ranch overlooking Hartman Draw south of Cortez. "Janie told her family many stories about her wonderful childhood and the loving stepmother who came into the lives of five motherless children," her family said. After graduating from Cortez High School in 1940, Mrs. Field entered nurses training in Colorado Springs, graduating in 1944 as a registered nurse. She worked at the Johnson Hospital in Cortez during World War II. She was the only registered nurse working with one doctor in a hospital of only 10 beds. In December 1944, she met her future husband, Marshall Field. A pilot on a B-24 in the Army Air Corps, he was visiting his parents in Lewis after being shot down over France and hidden by a French family until France was liberated. The couple married in 1945 in Phoenix. They moved to Lewis, where they rented a farm. In the late 1950s, they moved to George, Wash., where they raised cattle and alfalfa and started a feedlot. Mrs. Field returned to nursing in 1963, working for 28 years in a 16-bed hospital in Quincy. "She loved her job, taking care of surgical, medical, (cardiac care unit) and obstetrical patients," her family said. "She also was an incredible cook, winning first prize for her cherry pie and raves for her enchiladas, bread, cookies and cinnamon rolls. She raised a huge vegetable garden every year and filled the pantry with home-canned goods." Mrs. Field was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Marshall Field in 1999. She is survived by her daughter, Marsha Ann Field Wells Schuetz of Durango; sons Roy Edward Field, Kelly Arthur Field and Robert Weir Field of Quincy and George; sister Betty Ertel Dillon of Mancos; brothers Walter Ertel and Richard Lindsay, both of Cortez, and Donald Ertel of Sunnyvale, Calif.; eight grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, at the Free Methodist Church in Quincy. Memorial contributions may be made to The Cambridge Assisted Living Facility Memorial Fund, 301 H St. SW, Quincy, WA 98848.