Obituary of Erma McElvain

Clara Erma (Woolsey) McElvain, 86, passed away on July 19, 2014 at St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was born at home on August 31, 1927, near the Alta Vista School in Calhan, Colorado to Chester and Margaret Elsie (Moore) Woolsey. Erma grew up in Calhan, Colorado. She attended Calhan School, and afterward began working and taking care of others. She did plenty of babysitting and worked in a local café and later a pastry bakery in Denver. She worked for the Town Talk Bakery for about fifteen years, and then worked as a head housekeeper, maid, and desk clerk at a motel. She worked at the White House Cafe, the Betty Mae Café and the café in Simla, where she also worked at G&R Super. Erma married Walter Harvey McElvain April 2, 1949 in Raton, New Mexico. Together they made homes in Calhan, Denver, and Spokane before settling down south of Simla. They raised three sons, Dennis, Gary, and Randy. Erma served in the American Legion Auxiliary and enjoyed reading, sewing, fishing, and visiting family. Erma was preceded in death by her parents, Chester and Elsie, and her sisters, Della Evelina Tieman, Etta Thelma Colley, Arnold Janet Larson, Eleanor Louise Lemley, and Sandra Jean Lemesany. Erma is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law Dennis and Kathy of Ramah, Gary and Mary (Christner) of Fort Collins, and Randy and Tena (Kitten) of Calhan; her brother and sister-in-law Byrel and Georgia Woolsey of Calhan; her brothers-in-law Jack Larson of Littleton and Donald Lemley of Simla; her grandchildren Maranda and Chris Jones, Kristen and Justin Balhiser, Sarah and Pete Erslev, Kelly McElvain, and Emrald Taylor; her great-grandchildren Teague, Presley, and Malena Jones; Blake Balhiser; Felix Erslev and her nieces and nephews and other relatives.