Lois Layton

Lois Alline Layton, 92, died Thursday, July 5, 2012, at her home near Ignacio, Colo. A funeral service will be held Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at 1 P.M. at the Pine River Valley Baptist Church, with Pastor David McCaw officiating. Burial will follow at the Ignacio East Cemetery in Ignacio.

Lois was born June 2, 1920, in Texas County, Okla. She was the daughter of Joe and Mary Thrasher and was the seventh of eleven children. Her family lived near Texhoma, Okla., until she was five years old. They then moved to Arkansas for three years and then returned back to their homestead near Texhoma. She graduated from Texhoma High School in 1939. She then attended Panhandle A & M in Goodwell, Okla., where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in 1943. That following fall, she began her dedicated, life-long teaching career of 45 years at Northfork School, twenty miles northwest of Texhoma, Okla. Her next teaching assignment was at Pritchett, Colo., and then she moved to Vilas, Colo., where she taught high school for another 20 years.

While at Vilas, she met and married Douglas Clark Layton. They were married on February 20, 1945, in Syracuse, Kan. To this union was born two children: Joe Wesley Layton and Marilyn Alline Layton Ager. In 1964, the family moved to Ignacio, Colo., where Douglas accepted a job as a business manager of the Ignacio School District. Lois was the elementary school librarian for 20 years before retiring.

Lois was devoted to God and her family, which included seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She never met a person she didn’t know, and she cherished everyone’s friendship. She loved fishing, gardening, sewing, reading, crossword puzzles, cooking, her church family, and visiting the Ignacio Senior Center.

Lois was preceded in death by Douglas, her husband of 45 years; her parents, Joe and Mary Thrasher; and eight siblings: Clara Thrasher, Charlie Thrasher, Robert Thrasher, Jane Clark, Luther Thrasher, Raymond Thrasher, Mervin Thrasher, and Joyce Carter. She is survived by her children, Joe Layton and Marilyn Ager; sister, Rosella Flanagan; brother, Clarence Thrasher; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; as well as many nieces, nephews, and adopted family and friends.