Elsbeth Fay Botham
Marriages
Ken Botham - 1947
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 5A Obituary - March 23, 2017
Elsbeth Fay Botham
August 22, 1929 - March 19, 2017
Elsbeth “Ellie” Fay Dowdell Botham, of Grand Junction, passed away on Sunday, March 19, 2017, after suffering a massive stroke last week. She was 87, and a resident of the Atrium of the Grand Valley.
Born August 22, 1929, in Preston, Connecticut, Ellie graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1947. That summer, she married Ken Botham and
their son, Ken, Jr., was born the following year.
With a family history in New England extending back to the
Mayflower, Ellie and her family nevertheless discovered the
beauty of the American West on a vacation in 1959. In 1960
Ellie and her Kens moved to Steamboat Springs, and later to
Grand Junction. Twenty years after the birth of her son, Ellie
and Ken welcomed an unexpected bundle of joy—daughter,
Fay—into their home in 1968.
Ellie started piano lessons very young, having such a gift for
music that she became the pianist at her church when she was
ten years old. Thereafter, Ellie played for recitals, weddings,
and funerals, as well as for every church she ever attended,
establishing a reputation as an accomplished accompanist and
soloist. She loved playing the piano, and her music will be
sorely missed.
Ellie is survived by sisters, Mary Lou Dowdell and Marion
Fleming; son, Ken, Jr., and daughter, Fay; grandson, Thad and
his three children, Eli, Maeve, and Silas; granddaughter-in-law,
Jill and her two sons, Daniel and Lucas. Ellie was preceded in
death by grandson, Thayer, who was killed in a motorcycle
accident in 2008, and by husband Ken, who passed away last
May.
A memorial service will take place at Brown’s Funeral Service
on Sunday, March 26, at 11:00 a.m.
