Edyth Isabelle Powell Lowder was born December 28, 1917, to Hervey Thomas Powell and Laura Isabelle Manning Powell at the family home on their farm on the prairie, southeast of Campo, Colorado. She was the youngest of eight children.



Her childhood was spent on the family farm where she did her part doing chores which included pumping water from the stone well, milking the cows, and gathering eggs from the henhouse. She loved the smell of freshly baked bread from the cast iron stove her mother would bake, and especially enjoyed the end of the loaf hot from the oven with homemade jam. She also loved her mother's pies, particularly wonderberry pie. In the evenings, her mother would often read frontier stories to the children by kerosene lamplight.



She attended school at Liberty Bell, a one room schoolhouse in the country. At the young age of about 16 she met and fell in love with a handsome newcomer, Marshall Louis Lowder, the beginning of a life long romance. They were married on October 11, 1934. On December 8, 1934, Edyth and Marshall were baptized in a creek on Mr. and Mrs. Gant's place up by Lycan by Elder Penjero. On April 12, 1942 they were blessed with their only child, their daughter, Marsha Avon. They farmed for 4 years in Baca County, then moved to the San Luis Valley, and following that, moved to Pasco, Washington. Marshall farmed, while Edyth frequently was the cook for the farmhands, feeding 40 or so hungry men 3 meals a day.



Later they moved back to Baca County and purchased the homestead farm from Marshall's mother, located about 8 miles east of Campo, Colorado. Here they made a home, farmed and raised cattle for 50 years. Edyth would often say, "A man's work is from sun to sun but a woman's work is never done." She would wake around 6 am about 2 hours after Marshall woke to go out to work the fields, where she would tend to her several acres of vegetable gardens and fruit orchards, care for the farm animals, cook breakfast, dinner and supper, and launder during the day. After supper she would stay up for hours preserving homegrown produce, sewing the family clothes, making quilts and crocheting into the night, often until 2 to 3 in the morning. She was a renowned hostess and cook, and their home was always open to friends and relatives. Many of their nieces and nephews made their home with Edyth and Marshall for several years.



After Marshall passed away in February 1997, Edyth lived independently for the rest of her days in her home in Springfield, Colorado. Born in a world without electricity, telephone or running water, she lived through two world wars, the Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930's, witnessed a man landing on the moon, and even embraced the Internet age. When recalling the Depression, she had many stories of survival and would explain, "You have to have 'grit' to make it in the country". She took typing classes, and earned her GED in her sixties. Always an advocate for health, she became vegan in her seventies. She purchased a computer and learned to email her grandchildren in her eighties. She continued to make quilts non-stop all through her nineties, and would help friends and loved ones complete their quilts in her quilt workshop. Springfield residents would often see her shopping at the grocery store, driving around town, and walking with friends. She had many friends and neighbors whom she cared for and supported. She touched the lives of many people around her, and was so happy she was a "witness for Jesus" in her community.



On Wednesday afternoon, October 26, 2016, Edyth passed away at the age of 98. Edyth was preceded in death by her mother and father, 4 brothers Owen, Orvil, Melvin and Kermit, and by her 3 sisters Oletha Harper, Xona Schnaufer, and Louisa Copenhaver. She leaves to mourn her passing her daughter Marsha and husband Dan Hynes, three granddaughters, Ami Saunders, Jennifer and husband Joe Hoeflich, Erin and husband Steven Rath and their two children, Edyth's great granddaughters Kaitlin and Elyse.










Edyth Isabelle Powell Lowder was born December 28, 1917, to Hervey Thomas Powell and Laura Isabelle Manning Powell at the family home on their farm on the prairie, southeast of Campo, Colorado. She was the youngest of eight children.



Her childhood was spent on the family farm where she did her part doing chores which included pumping water from the stone well, milking the cows, and gathering eggs from the henhouse. She loved the smell of freshly baked bread from the cast iron stove her mother would bake, and especially enjoyed the end of the loaf hot from the oven with homemade jam. She also loved her mother's pies, particularly wonderberry pie. In the evenings, her mother would often read frontier stories to the children by kerosene lamplight.



She attended school at Liberty Bell, a one room schoolhouse in the country. At the young age of about 16 she met and fell in love with a handsome newcomer, Marshall Louis Lowder, the beginning of a life long romance. They were married on October 11, 1934. On December 8, 1934, Edyth and Marshall were baptized in a creek on Mr. and Mrs. Gant's place up by Lycan by Elder Penjero. On April 12, 1942 they were blessed with their only child, their daughter, Marsha Avon. They farmed for 4 years in Baca County, then moved to the San Luis Valley, and following that, moved to Pasco, Washington. Marshall farmed, while Edyth frequently was the cook for the farmhands, feeding 40 or so hungry men 3 meals a day.



Later they moved back to Baca County and purchased the homestead farm from Marshall's mother, located about 8 miles east of Campo, Colorado. Here they made a home, farmed and raised cattle for 50 years. Edyth would often say, "A man's work is from sun to sun but a woman's work is never done." She would wake around 6 am about 2 hours after Marshall woke to go out to work the fields, where she would tend to her several acres of vegetable gardens and fruit orchards, care for the farm animals, cook breakfast, dinner and supper, and launder during the day. After supper she would stay up for hours preserving homegrown produce, sewing the family clothes, making quilts and crocheting into the night, often until 2 to 3 in the morning. She was a renowned hostess and cook, and their home was always open to friends and relatives. Many of their nieces and nephews made their home with Edyth and Marshall for several years.



After Marshall passed away in February 1997, Edyth lived independently for the rest of her days in her home in Springfield, Colorado. Born in a world without electricity, telephone or running water, she lived through two world wars, the Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930's, witnessed a man landing on the moon, and even embraced the Internet age. When recalling the Depression, she had many stories of survival and would explain, "You have to have 'grit' to make it in the country". She took typing classes, and earned her GED in her sixties. Always an advocate for health, she became vegan in her seventies. She purchased a computer and learned to email her grandchildren in her eighties. She continued to make quilts non-stop all through her nineties, and would help friends and loved ones complete their quilts in her quilt workshop. Springfield residents would often see her shopping at the grocery store, driving around town, and walking with friends. She had many friends and neighbors whom she cared for and supported. She touched the lives of many people around her, and was so happy she was a "witness for Jesus" in her community.



On Wednesday afternoon, October 26, 2016, Edyth passed away at the age of 98. Edyth was preceded in death by her mother and father, 4 brothers Owen, Orvil, Melvin and Kermit, and by her 3 sisters Oletha Harper, Xona Schnaufer, and Louisa Copenhaver. She leaves to mourn her passing her daughter Marsha and husband Dan Hynes, three granddaughters, Ami Saunders, Jennifer and husband Joe Hoeflich, Erin and husband Steven Rath and their two children, Edyth's great granddaughters Kaitlin and Elyse.
















Edyth Isabelle Powell Lowder was born December 28, 1917, to Hervey Thomas Powell and Laura Isabelle Manning Powell at the family home on their farm on the prairie, southeast of Campo, Colorado. She was the youngest of eight children.



Her childhood was spent on the family farm where she did her part doing chores which included pumping water from the stone well, milking the cows, and gathering eggs from the henhouse. She loved the smell of freshly baked bread from the cast iron stove her mother would bake, and especially enjoyed the end of the loaf hot from the oven with homemade jam. She also loved her mother's pies, particularly wonderberry pie. In the evenings, her mother would often read frontier stories to the children by kerosene lamplight.



She attended school at Liberty Bell, a one room schoolhouse in the country. At the young age of about 16 she met and fell in love with a handsome newcomer, Marshall Louis Lowder, the beginning of a life long romance. They were married on October 11, 1934. On December 8, 1934, Edyth and Marshall were baptized in a creek on Mr. and Mrs. Gant's place up by Lycan by Elder Penjero. On April 12, 1942 they were blessed with their only child, their daughter, Marsha Avon. They farmed for 4 years in Baca County, then moved to the San Luis Valley, and following that, moved to Pasco, Washington. Marshall farmed, while Edyth frequently was the cook for the farmhands, feeding 40 or so hungry men 3 meals a day.



Later they moved back to Baca County and purchased the homestead farm from Marshall's mother, located about 8 miles east of Campo, Colorado. Here they made a home, farmed and raised cattle for 50 years. Edyth would often say, "A man's work is from sun to sun but a woman's work is never done." She would wake around 6 am about 2 hours after Marshall woke to go out to work the fields, where she would tend to her several acres of vegetable gardens and fruit orchards, care for the farm animals, cook breakfast, dinner and supper, and launder during the day. After supper she would stay up for hours preserving homegrown produce, sewing the family clothes, making quilts and crocheting into the night, often until 2 to 3 in the morning. She was a renowned hostess and cook, and their home was always open to friends and relatives. Many of their nieces and nephews made their home with Edyth and Marshall for several years.



After Marshall passed away in February 1997, Edyth lived independently for the rest of her days in her home in Springfield, Colorado. Born in a world without electricity, telephone or running water, she lived through two world wars, the Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930's, witnessed a man landing on the moon, and even embraced the Internet age. When recalling the Depression, she had many stories of survival and would explain, "You have to have 'grit' to make it in the country". She took typing classes, and earned her GED in her sixties. Always an advocate for health, she became vegan in her seventies. She purchased a computer and learned to email her grandchildren in her eighties. She continued to make quilts non-stop all through her nineties, and would help friends and loved ones complete their quilts in her quilt workshop. Springfield residents would often see her shopping at the grocery store, driving around town, and walking with friends. She had many friends and neighbors whom she cared for and supported. She touched the lives of many people around her, and was so happy she was a "witness for Jesus" in her community.



On Wednesday afternoon, October 26, 2016, Edyth passed away at the age of 98. Edyth was preceded in death by her mother and father, 4 brothers Owen, Orvil, Melvin and Kermit, and by her 3 sisters Oletha Harper, Xona Schnaufer, and Louisa Copenhaver. She leaves to mourn her passing her daughter Marsha and husband Dan Hynes, three granddaughters, Ami Saunders, Jennifer and husband Joe Hoeflich, Erin and husband Steven Rath and their two children, Edyth's great granddaughters Kaitlin and Elyse.