Obituary of Ethel Duell

Ethel and the children moved to Limon and lived in an apartment building across from the elementary school, less than a block from her parents' home. She got a job as a Mountain Bell telephone operator and it was through her job that she met Raymond Charles Duell of Seibert, Colorado; he placed many long distance calls on Ethel's shift, and after turning down Raymond's many requests for a date, she finally agreed. Always very forthright, Ethel told him on their first date that she was a widow and had three little kids. Many times over the intervening years Ethel expressed surprise and appreciation that Raymond was not put off by this revelation. Ethel's humility, modesty, and self-deprecation was typical. Ethel and Raymond were married on December 31, 1961, at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Genoa. It was a very private ceremony, with only the pastor, the children, and Joan Felzien attending. The family lived in Limon until the school year was over, then moved to Flagler and lived next door to the Lyle and Laura Stone family. In May of 1963, their son Charles Raymond was born. The family moved to the old Gaines place west of Flagler while Raymond built the house just east of Flagler. He did much of the work himself, and his brother-in-law George Felzien did the brick work. In 1964, the family moved into the house. Besides raising four children and running the household, Ethel was the bookkeeper for the family farm and “dirt contracting” business. She was “Home Base” on the two-way radios. Many times she relayed telephone messages to and from Raymond. At a time when many people think about retiring Ethel began to use a computer to keep the books, something she kept up until about two years ago. She didn't necessarily enjoy the computer or bookkeeping—at least not all the time—but she very much enjoyed the challenge and took a lot of pride in her work. Ethel took a computer programming class and later Farm and Ranch Management classes from Morgan Community College. She was also very proud of completing a Dale Carnegie public speaking course. Throughout her life Ethel had a fondness for nature and loved being outdoors. She tried to balance that with the need for being inside close to the radio and working on the books. Given a choice would always choose to be outdoors and out of the house, even if that meant hauling water to cattle or making “parts runs” to implement dealers throughout eastern Colorado. Many times when the school bus brought Charles home he found her digging up “goathead” stickers on the side of the road. She had a beautiful flower garden in the front yard and another in the back. Ethel loved animals and never turned down a stray dog or cat. Whether it was for a day or the rest of its life, any pet was welcome. This included the two horses that spent 30 years in the front and back yards and greeted her every morning with a plaintive whinny. She cherished watching and listening to the many kinds of birds her trees brought in, and could often be seen hauling bird seed to the feeder in the back yard and feeding hummingbirds in the front. She was a very quiet and private person and would be embarrassed by all this attention. She loved her family and her pets. There is a quote from John W. Gardener that seems like a fitting description of Ethel: “Some people strengthen the society just by being the kind of people they are.” Ethel is survived by her sisters Lorena Felzien of Limon, Dorothy Baum of Saint Louis, and Doris Ivey of Colorado Springs; her children Jan (Joe) Layton, Paul (Anita) Burns, Stan (Willie) Burns, and Charles Duell; Grandchildren Shawn (Lisa) Layton, Chad Layton, Heath (Leigh Ann) Layton, Cody (Chelsea) Layton, Tandy (Jake) Nossaman, Nathan Burns, Karissa Burns, Jason (Julie) Burns, Kelsey (Ezra) Elrod; Great Grandchildren Mary Lee, Kathryn, Chance, Tyler, Gabby, Kendrick, Tyce, Weslon, Grayson, and many nieces and nephews.