Ardis Denner
PAYSON, Ariz. - Ardis Elizabeth Denner, 87, of Payson, Ariz., died Feb. 8, 2008, at the Payson Care Center.
She was born Sept. 4, 1920, near McGregor to Orin and Alma (Nordell) Williamson. She graduated valedictorian from McGregor High School in 1939. She attended Macalester College and graduated from Mounds-Midway School of Nursing in St. Paul as a registered nurse. She served in San Diego in the Cadet Nursing Program, caring for wounded soldiers returning from World War II and worked briefly in Tuscaloosa, Ala., during the polio epidemic. She also worked as a school nurse and public health nurse in Arizona and Colorado, retiring in 1978. She met Ray Middleton in Crosby and they were married Oct. 11, 1947. They moved to Phoenix, Ariz., in 1959 and then to Durango, Colo., in 1968. After her husband's death, she returned to Arizona, where she met and married Everett Denner in 1976. They lived in Alaska and Arizona and spent summers in Two Harbors, frequently visiting the Crosby area.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, Raymond J. Middleton and Everett G. Denner; two brothers, Stanley Williamson and Andrew Williamson; and one sister, Marguerite Gerber.
She is survived by her children, Ardis Decker, Phoenix, Ariz., Terry and John Decker, Cope, Colo., Charlie Middleton, Durango, Colo., and Tim and Katie Middleton, Durango, Colo.; two sisters, Helen Sobiech, Mission, Texas, and Blanche Elf, McGregor; four grandchildren; and many nephews and nieces.
Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Thursday, June 26, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Crosby. Burial will be on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Woodland Memorial Park in McGregor. Friends may call one hour prior to the service at the church. Arrangements are with the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby.