Mrs. Elsie Sheldon

Elsie M. Sheldon, 107, passed away peacefully, at her home along the N. Saint Vrain River, NW of Lyons, Colorado, on July 8, 2010.
Elsie was born June 20, 1903, in Pottawatomie County, Iowa, the eldest of seven children born to Frank Molder Clark, and Carrie Marie (Christensen) Clark. She received her early education in Iowa, and graduated from High School in 1921, at Chappell, Nebraska. She taught in a country school for a short period in 1922.
Elsie married Wyatt Wier Sheldon, in Denver, Colorado on June 6, 1922. She had met Wier, a WWI Veteran, while he was working on the Lincoln Highway going through Chappell. They worked in Denver for a time, then moved back to Chappell, and farmed. In 1929, they moved to Upton, Wyoming, where they owned a trucking business, then a sawmill and lumber business.
Elsie was a homemaker and after being widowed at 53 she did various jobs outside the home and helped care for her grandchildren, then after her father's death in 1974, she became the caregiver of her Mother for nearly two years and moved to Chappell.
After selling her home in Chappell, in 2006, she came to make her home in Colorado, with her daughter, Marilyn, in the home her parents had built in 1954. She also spent part of her time in Wyoming, with her other daughter Jerry, and has spent time visiting with her son Dale and family in Mexico, Connecticut, and Florida.
Elsie enjoyed fishing, playing cards, gardening, cooking, sewing, crocheting, traveling, watching the Broncos, doing puzzles and most of all, she loved her family, friends and life. When asked, at age 104, after breaking her femur, why she wanted to get well and keep living, she replied, "to give love and to receive love", and that she did with abundance.
She is survived by 3 children, Geraldine Mirich, of Upton, WY, Dale Sheldon and wife Betty, of Pompano Beach, FL, Marilyn Sims, of Lyons, CO, eleven grandchildren, Carl Mirich (Deanna), Carolyn Harris (Michael), Mary Giberson, Michael Sheldon (Nancy), Dane Sheldon (Jami), Jeffrey Sheldon, (Karen), Mary Kurki (Peter), Kristan Sims (Diana), Clark Sims (Kimberly), Wyatt Sims, Ron Sims (Carmen), twenty-one great grandchildren and 19 great-great grandchildren, one sister-in-law, Helen Clark of Chappell, NE, many loving nieces and nephews, friends and special caregivers who have helped care for her these last three years.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, four brothers, LeRoy, Irven, Howard, and Glenn Clark, two sisters, Emma Cleveland and Alice Bruns, two grandsons, Marvin Mirich, and Gary Sims, and one great granddaughter, Audrey Giberson.
Graveside services will be held at 11am, July 14, 2010, at Greenwood Cemetery in Upton, WY, with the Reverend Gene Hagerman, officiating. A reception following at the Methodist Church in Upton. Worden Funeral Directors, Newcastle, WY, are in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations made to the Upton Ambulance Service, P.O. box 278, Upton, WY.

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