Dorothy M. (Ambrose) Burgess
Marriages
Gaylen Johnson - 1931
Div
Arthur Burgess - 1957
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Death Notice - December 25, 2014
Dorothy M. Burgess, 105, Grand Junction, died Dec. 22, 2014,
at HopeWest and Hopsice Care Center. Services are pending for the
spring with Martin Mortuary.
Ms. Burgess was co-founder of Gay Johnson’s Inc.
She is survived by a son, Berton A. Johnson of Englewood; a
daughter, Gaynell Colaric of Grand Junction; four grandchildren
and nine great-grandchildren.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Obituary - April 5, 2015
Dorothy Ambrose Burgess
September 15, 1909 - December 22, 2014
Shortly after celebrating her 105th birthday, Dorothy passed away peacefully at HopeWest Care Center on December 22, 2014, ending the final chapter of an amazing life.
Dorothy was born in Wheatridge, Colorado; shortly thereafter, her family moved to a farm near Fort Morgan, Colorado. When Dorothy was 13, her family purchased a farm and moved to Fruita, Colorado. She graduated from Fruita High School in 1926. Dorothy then attended Western State College and graduated with a degree in education. She taught elementary school in Clifton for several years before she married Gaylen Johnson in 1931.
Upon starting a family, they also began building a family
business, Gay Johnson’s, Inc., which started in 1941 with a tire sales and recapping facility on the corner of 7th and Main, a well known business that would continue to expand throughout the region. Although Dorothy and Gay were divorced in 1948, they remained business partners for the next 50 years. Their ventures included a tire store and recapping facility at 4th and North and a restaurant at 1st and Grand. They also owned service stations in Delta, Montrose, and El Jebel, and truck stops at Cameo, Colorado, and Cheyenne and Rawlins, Wyoming.
Dorothy married Arthur Burgess in 1957, and they remained
happily married until his death in 1992. She was an 80-year
member of Eastern Star Sunshine Chapter #53, and served as Worthy Matron in 1946. Dorothy was a member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution and traced her ancestry back to the Mayflower. She was also a long-time member of the First Congregational Church. Dorothy’s hobbies included
extensive worldwide travel, gardening, and playing bridge,
which she enjoyed well into her 100’s.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, and two sisters, Fern Ambrose Ruck and Marjorie Ambrose Downing. She is survived by a son, Berton (Terri) Johnson of Englewood, CO, and a daughter, Gaynell (Doug) Colaric of Grand Jucntion; four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren, all of the Denver area.
A celebration of Dorothy’s life will be held at Bookcliff
Country Club on Saturday, April 11, 2015, at 11:00 a.m.
Memoral contributions may be sent to HopeWest Hospice,
3090B North 12th St., Grand Junction, CO 81506 or the First
Congregational Church, 1425, N. 5th St., Grand Junction CO
81501.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7 B Obituary - April 8, 2015
