Rachel Lyda Obituary

Rachel Dean "Deanie", age 86, passed away December 3, 2016, at the St. Francis Medical Center. She was born to Milton Clifford and Hazel Achord Cheesman on July 29, 1930, in El Paso County, and was proud to say she was a graduate of the Colorado Springs High School Class of 1949!

She is survived by her four children: sons Tim and Mark; daughters Nancy Bass (husband John) and Peggy Sue Winter (husband Don); grandsons Timothy Bass (wife Ivonne – great grandchildren Nathalie and Micah), Jason Winter (wife Valerie), pre-deceased granddaughter Kate Winter Bettner (great grandson Nickolas). She is also survived by her twin sister and best friend Rose Howell and her family; and brothers Robert Cheesman and Dr. Samuel "Bud" Cheesman and his family.

Deanie was a quiet, loving and caring mother to her four children, raising them as a single mother in the 60s and 70s. With the support of her loving family, she learned to drive, worked odd jobs, and continued her education, earning a business certificate at Blair Business College; landing a job with the El Paso County Department of Social Services in bookkeeping, where she later retired as a supervisor.

When asked what was important to her when looking back on her life, the first things she would talk about were her family, her home, and her friends. Deanie loved to cook and didn't need a special occasion or a holiday for one of her spectacular meals. Her kitchen shelves were lined with cookbooks and three ring binders full of recipes from around the country and world. Son Mark, a gourmet chef, was always sending her something new to try, as well as her many friends and colleagues from the Daughters of the American Revolution, to which she was a proud member. In earlier years, she loved square and country dancing, and scrapbooking, clipping many historical documents, which later brought her hours of reading enjoyment.

Deanie accepted Christ as her Saviour and was baptized in the 60s, and while she was a woman of a quiet faith, her actions were truly reflective of a Christ-like spirit who always put others first before herself.

While we miss Deanie, we are thankful the difficulties later life can bring are over. Many blessings were received from her caregivers, including Aden Home Care, Vera Care Hospice, the staff at St. Francis Medical Center, and her dear family. We are a large family but a family of faith and a family that looks to be reunited with our dear ones in the not too distant future … where "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind can conceive the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." I Corinthians 2:9.

We will celebrate her life and the day she was received through Christ into eternity with a 10:00 am Visitation, 11:00 am Service on Friday, December 9, at the Shrine of Remembrance, 1730 E. Fountain Boulevard, with a Luncheon Reception to follow at the Olympian Plaza Reception and Event Center, 975 S. Union Boulevard. A private burial will take place at Fairview Cemetery of Colorado Springs. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in her honor are suggested to the Catholic Charities Marian House Soup Kitchen and Immigration Services, Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region and the American Cancer Society.