Susan Aletha Hill

Aletha was born in Pringle, South Dakota on March 17, 1933 to Thomas Welch and Rose Whitted Welch. She was the youngest of five children. She grew up in Hot Springs, SD and graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1951. She married the cute new guy in town, Bud Hill, on October 19, 1952. They would have celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary this year. Aletha worked at several government offices as an administrative assistant while Bud was overseas in the Army.

She and Bud moved to Colorado Springs, CO in 1956, after he returned from Korea. Aletha worked at Spear Engineering until the birth of their daughter, Twyla. She and Bud were active in youth ministries and developed life-long friendships with neighbors and church family.

In 1962, Bud and Aletha moved to Fort Collins, CO where their second daughter, Templa, was born. Bud and Aletha were active members of First Assembly of God Church (now Timberline Church). Aletha was always on the look-out for new people in town, or someone she could welcome into her home. She had the gift of hospitality and didn’t want anyone to feel left out, or be alone on a holiday. Over the years, they hosted numerous Bible study groups, young people’s groups and opened their home to college students. Aletha was also very artistic, and was a gifted singer, needlecrafter and tole painter.

She worked for many years as an executive administrative assistant at CSU, and retired in 1984. She and Bud also owned a gift shop in Estes Park, where she was able to put her artistic skills to use. After Bud retired, and they sold the shop, they were able to travel with family members and their Primetimers tribe from Timberline Church. She also logged many, many miles as new model test driver for a major auto manufacturer.

Aletha is survived by her devoted husband, Bud Hill, and daughters Twyla (Phill) Osler and Templa (Chris) Melnick. She was the beloved grandmother to six grandchildren; Marc (Serenity) Melnick, Micah (Jolee) Melnick, Marshall Melnick, Kyle (Chelsea) Osler, Katie (Dakota) Proffitt, Klay Osler and three great-grandchildren as well as an aunt loved by numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, brothers Clifford and Gerald Welch, and sisters Vinetta Fennema and Fern Fox.

Memorial service will be held Friday, September 27, 2019 at Timberline Church South Auditorium at 3:00pm. Memorial contributions may be made to Royal Rangers or Primetimers in care of Timberline Church at 2908 S. Timberline Road, Ft Collins, CO 80525.

The family would like to give a special thanks to the team at Pathways Hospice and Dr. Sara Burgardt, Dr. Paul Bauling, and Dr. Bonnie Nowak for the extraordinary care they provided and compassion they showed through her final years.