Esther May Garrelts

Oct. 4, 1925 – Feb. 26, 2020

Posted

TORRINGTON – Grave side services for Esther May Garrelts, 94, will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, at the Valley View Cemetery with the Rev. Scott Firminhac officiating.

May died Feb. 26, 202,0 at Community Hospital.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to the Torrington Senior Center or Goshen Healthcare Community’s Activities Program. Arrangements are by the Colyer Funeral Home.

The family will be receiving visitors through the weekend at 1717 East M St. for friends to stop by and share stories.

May was born Oct. 4, 1925, in LaGrange, the daughter of Lowell and Marie (VerStraten) Gibbs. She grew up on a farm south of Yoder, where she received her education.

She married Archie Garrelts on Aug. 18, 1943, and they farmed in the Yoder area for a time before they moved to the Cherry Creek Valley, where they continued to farm for many years.

Archie died in 2006. May continued to live on the farm for a while before moving to Torrington.

May was well known for her crocheting, hand quilting and gardening and taught many classes in all of them. She served as a 4-H leader when her children were young and also served as an election official on many voting days. She was a member of the Cherry Creek Homemakers Club, the Grassroots Garden Club, Goshen County Quilters and Our Savior Lutheran Church where she was part of the Dorcas Circle.

May is survived by two daughters Dorothy (Wayne) Fornstrom of Pinedale, and Joyce Schubarth of Torrington; two sons William (Jodee) Garrelts of Torrington and Wayne (Anna) Garrelts of Statesville, North Carolina; a brother Jack (Shirley) Gibbs of Cheyenne; a sister Elizabeth (Dwight) Vance of Mitchell, Nebraska; 17 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Archie; a son John Garrelts; daughters Betty Hickman and Kay Roland; brothers H.A. "Pete" Gibbs and Robert Gibbs; and a sister Helen Soule.