A loving matriarch of five generations, passed away at the age of 89. She was born and raised on a wheat farm in Nunn, Colorado to parents Frank and Hazel Komma.
Rose was their tenth child out of what would be a family of fourteen siblings. She met her sweetheart Don Elder while going to school in Nunn and they married Nov. 12, 1948.
They lived in Cheyenne until Don was drafted into the Marines, and then she followed him around the country through his assignments in Florida and California.
In 1953 she welcomed her son Michael.
The family moved back to Cheyenne in 1954 after the Marines and she worked as a bookkeeper at a bakery.
In 1959 daughter Beverly came along.
At some point in the late 50’s she started working for GMAC in Cheyenne. In 1963 she changed locations from Cheyenne to Northglenn, but her employment with GMAC continued for a total of 35 years.
The Elder family was a family that could never seem to get enough of the outdoors. On any given weekend, you could find them camping, fishing, horseback riding, boating or flying somewhere. She even tried skiing, once, but that wasn’t something she pursued.
She liked to travel and took numerous vacations with her sisters, Daisy and Violet. She’s been to Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Vegas (she liked Vegas), spent some time in Belgium with her niece Judy. For many years, Don & Rose would vacation by fishing in Canada or exploring the Washakie Wilderness Area in Wyoming on horseback. Rose also traveled to each side of the country for weddings with the Lais Family, Ron & Jill (California) and Rod & Helen (New York).
1983 brought her into a battle with breast cancer, which she beat, and in 2007 she survived a stroke and continued to travel and see family. In 2014 she broke a hip and while in the hospital, they discovered Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She was given 3-6 months, but she beat that.
Rose’s family grew bigger and stronger with the arrival of grandkids Nicol and Lacy when Mike started his family. A little more than a decade later was the arrival of Maddie and Greg to Bev.
The family legacy continued on with the births of Rose’s great-grandchildren, Mickela, Amanda, Joseph, Samantha, Zoey, Maelle and Keiran. In 2013 she was blessed with her first great-great-grandchild, Katherine. She gave just as much love and kindness to each of them and nurtured them in any way she could.
Rose is preceded in death by her husband Donald Elder, daughter-in-law Roxanne Elder, siblings Annie Senger (& Fred), William Komma, Daisy Peterson (& Russel), Melvin Komma (& Helen), Edith Rains (& Gerald), Francis Dumler (& Paul), Betty Delaney (& Forest), Violet Engler (& Duane), Harry Komma & Walter Komma.
She is survived by sister Phyllis Barfoot (& Stanley), brothers Don Komma and Tom Komma, sisters-in-law Colleen Komma and Ruth Pitts. Children Michael Elder and Beverly Jones (& Chuck), grandchildren Nicol Elder, Lacy Marx (& Matt Petersen), Madeline Hicks (& Matt), Gregory Jones, great-grandchildren Mickela Elder (& Jeffery Puhl), Amanda Elder, Joseph Petersen, Samantha Petersen, Zoey Golembiewski, Maelle Hicks and Keiran Hicks. And last, but not least, great-great-granddaughter Katherine Elder-Puhl.
Please make any donations to the American Cancer Society.
DONATIONS
American Cancer SocietyP.O. Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123
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