Lavena Ethel 'Eny' Saunders

Funeral services for Cortez resident Lavena Ethel ‘Eny’ Saunders will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, March 9, 2020 at Ertel Memorial Chapel. Pastor Will Morris will officiate. Interment will follow at Arriola Cemetery.
Eny was born July 21, 1926 in the Arriola community, the third daughter born to George S. and Jewell Lenore (Short) Gardner. Nola K. and Mona A. were her older sisters. Eny passed away on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at Vista Grande Inn at the age of 93.
Eny attended grades one through eight at the Arriola School; her teachers were Mrs. Lottie Manaugh and Ed Kemper; and grades nine and ten at Garrett Ridge near Lewis where they either walked or rode a horse back then. Grades eleven and twelve were attended at Cortez Union High School. After high school Eny attended Mercy Nursing School in Durango and Denver; and later in Duluth, MN to become a Nurse Anesthetist. She worked at the old Southwest Memorial Hospital on South Broadway in Cortez for 13 years.
Eny married John K. Saunders on July 22, 1958 in Sacramento, CA. Their son, Kenneth R. Saunders was born April 22, 1960 in Cortez, CO. She then worked at Montezuma County Health Department for many years where she retired. After retiring from nursing Eny went into real estate, Better Homes and Gardens, for four years. She enjoyed traveling to 23 different countries.
Surviving Eny are her Great Niece, Jamie Bradshaw (Tim); her great nephew, Wayne Rogers (Kacy); and her daughter in law, Tina Saunders. Eny was preceded in death by her parents; her son, Kenneth R. Saunders, and her sisters, Nola Welsh and Mona ‘Andy’ Rogers.