Christie Bogert

Christie Ann Bogert, known to many as Gabriela Pakiser, passed away Wed., December 7, 2011, under the care of Mercy Hospice at Four Corners Health Care Center in Durango. She was 65.

She was born November 6, 1946, in Denver, and she lived in Bayfield for more than 30 years. She spent most of her younger years in Albuquerque, N.M., and summers in Pagosa Springs Colo., working on the family ranch. She graduated from Sandia High School in 1966.

She had many jobs, including working on the Road Crew and waitressing at Pagosa Inn, where she met and waited on John Wayne. She worked as a missionary for two years in Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota, where she learned how to bead with the Sioux Indians. She married Roger Lee Haltom of Texas in 1976, and divorced in 1978 before the birth of their daughter, Rebecca, in 1979. She was also a nurse at Community Hospital until she was in a car accident while she was pregnant with her daughter Rebecca.

In 1980, she moved from Durango to Bayfield, where she was the caretaker of Mini Mansions Mobile Home Park for 27 yrs. She loved being outdoors, fishing, hiking in Beaver Meadows, gardening, quilting, beading, pencil drawing and watercolors. She is survived by her daughter, Rebecca Rueda, son-in-law and four grandchildren from Texas; sister, Cindy Boyd of Pagosa Springs, Colo.; brother Phillip Bogert of Pagosa Springs, Colo.; brother Jeremy Pakiser of Denver, and brother Daniel Pakiser of Mesa, Ariz.

There will be no services or memorial. Friends are asked to celebrate her going home! Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society of Durango, 1800 E. 3rd Ave., Ste 101, Durango, CO 81301