Mabel Ellefson

Private family services will be held. Mabel M. (Martinez) Ellefson, 86, of Cheyenne, passed away late Friday evening, January 29, 2010, at her home surrounded by her loving family. Mabel was born June 17, 1923, in Holman, New Mexico, a daughter of the late Efren and Amalia (Montoya) Martinez. As a young woman, Mabel worked as a school cook in New Mexico and later moved to Cheyenne where she raised her nine children and cared for her home. She also worked outside the home by serving as a cook for the Senior Ac tivity Center’s Green Thumb Program and also for her daughter, Helen, at her restaurant, The Casa. She will be fondly remembered for her many years of taking care of her grandchildren and for being a loving mother, grandmother, sister and friend. Mabel is survived by her children, Helen Garcia of Cheyenne, Louis Romero of Cheyenne, Nancy Aragon of Cheyenne, Betty Bennett of Cheyenne, Gilbert Romero of California, Veronica Winders of Cheyenne, Vernon Ellefson of Cheyenne, and Robert Ellefson of Mason City, Iowa; a brother, Charles Lovato of Las Vegas, Nevada; 22 grandchildren; 35 great-grandchildren; and 5 great-great grandchildren. Mabel is preceded in death by her parents; a daughter, Ruth Cardin; two sisters, Lorraine Duran and Josephine Hutchins; and four brothers, Alfred Martinez, Elias Lovato, Joseph E. Lovato and Joe P. Lovato. Expressions of sympathy in Mabel’s memory may be made to a charity of one’s choice.