Raymond Clare Gerlach

RAYMOND CLARE GERLACH Funeral services for longtime area resident, Raymond Clare Gerlach, will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 20 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Empire Street Chapel. Interment will follow at Fairview Cemetery. Clare, as he was known to family and friends, was born in Johnson County, Kans. on February 9, 1918 to Oden Odell and Daisy Margaret (Herlihy) Gerlach. He passed away at Mesa Vista Retirement Center in Cortez on Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at the age of 96. Surviving Clare are his children, Kay Bayles and husband, Mark, of Mancos, Colo., Linda Morton of Cortez, and Raymond Gene Gerlach and wife, Anna, of Fort Collins, Colo.; daughter-in-law, Kathy Gerlach of Cortez; and 17 grandchildren, 59 great grandchildren, and 44 great great grandchildren. Clare was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Lois Francis (Lybyer) Gerlach in 2005; sons, Gary Clare Gerlach and Glen Lyle "Denny" Gerlach; daughter-in-law, Janet Gerlach; and siblings, Cledia Mae Brassfield and Dayton Odell Gerlach.