Hallie Phillips Pugh

HALLIE PHILLIPS PUGH Memorial services for longtime Cortez resident Hallie Phillips Pugh will be held on Saturday, April 11 at 2 p.m. at Ertel Memorial Chapel. Inurnment will follow at Cortez Cemetery. Hallie Phillips Pugh of 805 Brookside Drive in Cortez, CO, died April 6, 2009 at the Vista Grande Inn in Cortez, after a short illness. Hallie Zora Phillips was born on November 12, 1921 on the family homestead near Ackman, CO (near Pleasant View), to John Ellis Phillips and Tina Itasca Hurley Phillips. Her parents had moved to Colorado in 1913 after a two year journey by wagon from Stephenville, TX. Her father worked on a farm in McElmo Canyon and later established the family homestead in 1916. Her mother was a teacher in one and two room rural school houses for 58 years. She is survived by her son, George R. Pugh Jr. (Winnifred) of Glen Gardner, NJ, daughter Tina Lipschutz (Irv) of Henderson, NV, nieces Theresa Maynes (Byron) of Cortez, CO, Susie Zion of Dolores, CO and nephews Ellis Miller of Cortez, CO, Tom J. Johnson II (Peggy) of Prescott, AZ and Leroy Miller of Denver, CO. She is also survived by many adoring grand nieces and nephews and great-grand nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, George R. Pugh, her parents, John E. and Tina Phillips, her sisters, Beatrice (Phillips) Miller, Clara (Phillips) Johnson and five more brothers and sisters, all of whom died in childhood: Robert Ellis, Rosalie, Mildred, Velma and John E. Hallie attended elementary school at Ackman and graduated from Cortez High School in 1940. During WWII she joined the war effort, working for Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego, CA as a riveter, building PBY Catalina Flying Boats and B-24 Liberators for both the US Army Air Corp, and the US Navy. After WWII she married her husband of over fifty years, George Robert Pugh on March 16, 1946. They settled in Englewood, CO, where she was active in community and church groups. In 1974 she resumed her education and became a Licensed Practical Nurse, working at Swedish Hospital in Englewood, CO, in the intensive care unit. While living in Englewood, Hallie treasured her ties to Montezuma County and her door was always open to visitors from "home". On many occasions friends and strangers would find a loving place to stay at the Pugh home while attending an ill family member in a Denver hospital. She and husband George retired in 1986 and moved to Cortez, CO where their home became a gathering place for extended family and a wide circle of friends. She was an animal lover and remained active in animal rescue efforts until the end of her life. Family members and friends left behind are gathering their gratitude at this time for having "Aunt Hallie's" strength, generosity and unconditional love to light the pathway for all of the many years. Memorial contributions can be made in Hallie's name to For Pets Sake/Humane Society, P.O. Box 1705, Cortez, Colo. 81321.