Isabelle Epps

Isabelle Roth Epps was born May 9, 1923 at her grandmother’s home in Evans, Colorado. Thus began the life of one who loved being at home and made every house she lived in a home. On January 1, 1939, at the age of 16, she not only accepted the invitation to attend an evangelistic meeting of Dennis Brown’s, but she accepted the Lord as her personal Saviour and was born again. She immediately became concerned for her family’s spiritual needs and her testimony was instrumental in the salvation of her brothers and parents. The family was all baptized in November of that same year by Bro. Dennis Brown. She attended LaSalle Junior High and graduated from Greeley High School. In 1940 she moved to Denver, attended Emily Griffith School of Opportunity and met her future husband, Robert Epps. They were married February 4, 1942 in her parent’s home. She joined First Baptist Church on her twentieth birthday, May 9, 1943. This became her church home.

While she followed her hubby (which he was so affectionately called) around during his Basic Training for World War II, she worked a few bookkeeping jobs. When children came into their lives, she became the mama (which she was so affectionately called by her children) who stayed at home. From living in a small cabin at the intersection of Santa Fe Drive and Hampden, and caring for her elderly in-laws, to living in the garage while trying to build a house at Quebec and Belleview area, she made her family comfortable at home. She enjoyed the life of being mama and wife.

The city girl grew up and became the country mama, butchering chickens, putting up with and cleaning up after pets of all sizes, hunting, camping, fishing (yes, she gutted the fish too), planting, weeding, harvesting large gardens and then canning and freezing the produce. She was an excellent cook and boy could she make a mean rubbarb cobbler. She loved to create matching dresses for her and her girls and kept them happy with all kinds of doll clothes too. She loved to crochet and was well versed in multi-tasking, playing games with the kids while sewing or fixing dinner. She made living an adventure. Driving through the fields on “wagon train” roads to pick up other kids on the way to Englewood Baptist Grade School, is just one example.

But she didn’t just love being home and serving the family, she loved serving the Lord. She taught a High School girl’s Sunday School class, worked at the Western Voice with Evalena, and was an IBBM delegate, traveling to other states to the meetings. Alongside her hubby, she served many years in the Junior Department, but also she loved having a chance to teach adult ladies once in a while. She opened her home to troubled teens (one lived over a year with the family) and to college students needing room and board, and to college choir members on their way through on tour. She love to make chili and hot chocolate for the youth department hay rides they hosted at their mountain home .

She did love to travel, not only to camp out, but to visit family. What awesome memories were made on the month long trip to California and up the coast to Oregon and Washington, with all six kids in a station wagon, pulling a camper. Then there was the memory made during the trip to Yellowstone with all the family and her parents…a bear helping itself to the bucket of home grown plums, while her girls hid themselves in the park’s restroom fearing for their lives. And then later, traveling to see her kids and grandkids who had moved all over the country. Even in her 80’s, she enjoyed her trips to Hawaii and Wales, both of which was with family!

As Isabelle put her home in order, she was preceded in death by her husband, parents, two brothers and one daughter-in-law. She leaves behind 6 children and their spouses, 20 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren. On May 30, 2013, she was at home when she passed from this life to enter her heavenly home to be with our Lord and Saviour and her loved ones that had gone on before her. As Proverbs 31:28a says, “Her children arise up, and call her blessed.”