Gayle E. Boltjes, 87 of Eckley, returned to our Lord on April 13, 2018.  She was born in Eckley, CO on Oct. 18, 1930.
Gayle lived south of Eckley at Heartstrong, CO and attended the Heartstrong school until she was 7 or 8, then she and her family moved to Otis, CO. There she attended the Otis schools until her junior year. In February on the 13th day of 1947, she gave birth to a daughter Carol June Seib Becker. Two years later she gave birth to another daughter Sandy Mazur, born Feb 14th 1949. It was a sad day because she was told she had to give this daughter up for adoption, In Jan of 2016, Colorado "unlocked" Original Birth Certificates. Sandy filled out an application to the state of Colorado. On April 23 ^rd , 2016, she finally received the long awaited birth certificate and between her and her son Brent who lives in Denver they found out where her birth mother was and sent a letter. On the 10th of June, 2016, Gayle received a letter from Sandy saying she wanted to meet with her. Mom brought the letter down to me to read and I told her she should call and set up a meeting. She did and the meeting was set for June 22nd, 2016. What a wonderful meeting it was, not only did Sandy find her birth mother but also a sister, 2 years and 1 day older than her.  Carol always felt there was something missing in her life but had no idea what it was until she met her sister she didn't know anything about. Gayle had a smile that no one had ever seen before. On July 30th, 2016, Sandy and her son Brent attended a Boltjes family reunion in Akron where she met a lot of relatives she didn't even know she had.
Gayle worked in a lot of cafes and Bars in Colorado and Oregon. She worked in a saw mill in Oregon right alongside the men. She managed a bar in Iliff, CO for several years, retiring around 1994. She moved to Eckley in 2010 where she has been ever since.

Gayle's father John Boltjes and her mother Dessie went before her,  as did 3
sisters, Dessie Walsworth, Mildred Criswell, and Bertha Humphrey, also 3 brothers George Boltjes, John Boltjes, and Floyd Boltjes. She was the youngest of 7 children.

Gayle left behind 2 daughters, Carol Becker Seib of Eckley CO., and Sandy (husband Joe)  Mazur of Marietta, GA, 6 grandchildren, Ron Becker of Eckley CO, Cheryl Westerland of Eckley CO, Connie Toft of Brush CO, Stephen Gentry of Gillette, WY, Thomas Pearson of Billings MT, and Brent Becker of Denver CO.  She had 14 great-grandchildren, and 17 great-great-grandchildren as well as many nieces and nephews, great nieces , great nephews, great-great and so forth.  All of her family will miss her terribly , she was the heart of this family.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at Bowin Funeral Home in Akron, CO.  A private family inurnment will be held at a later date.  Memorial donations may be made to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.