Funeral services for Alta Koons will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at Holt Funeral Home in Canon City, CO. Burial will be in the family plot at Lakeview Cemetery in Canon City, CO.
Alta passed away at Highland Park Care Center in Alliance, NE on Saturday, March 7, 2015 at age 96. She suffered through the progression of Alzheimer’s the last few years.
Alta was born February 6, 1919 in Norcatur, KS and moved to southeast Colorado where she grew up during the dust bowl and drought of the 1930s. She remembered the hardships of “the dry lands” very well. In 1935, the family moved to Canon City, CO, where she met and married Gerald Koons on July 10, 1937. She and Gerald enjoyed 61 years together. Two daughters, Lois and Shirley, were born in Colorado, and in 1942 the family moved to Las Vegas, NM, where Gerald was employed by the Santa Fe Railroad.
After retirement, the couple moved to Borger, TX and worked in the construction business for a couple years and then started training and racing race horses at all of the New Mexico tracks. They settled in Raton, NM. In 2009, Alta moved to the Prairie Pines Lodge in Chadron, NE. She was a member of the First Methodist Church in Raton.
She was preceded in death by husband Gerald in 1998, three brothers, and granddaughter Becky Sellman in 2011. She is survived by daughters Lois Payton (George) of Borger, TX and Shirley Sellman (Tom) of Chadron, NE; grandchildren Tammy Lumpkin (Mike) of Midland, TX, Gerald Payton (Stephanie) of Borger, TX, Robin Meeks (Brent) of Taylor, NE, and Richard Sellman (Shirley J) of Chadron, NE; ten great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
A memorial has been established for Prairie Pines Lodge. Donations may be sent to Chamberlain Chapel, PO Box 970, Chadron, NE 69337.
Chamberlain Chapel of Chadron is in charge of arrangements for Alta Koons.
