Dorothy Shank Obituary

Durango resident Dorothy Shank died Monday, Sept. 22, 2014, at Sunshine Gardens Country Home. She was 92.

Mrs. Shank was born to Lila Willey and Walter F. Quale on Jan. 18, 1922, in Omaha, Nebraska. An honors graduate of North High School in Omaha, she went on to study nursing at the University of Nebraska.

She moved to Chicago, where Mrs. Shank met and married the man her family called the "love of her life," Bob Shank, on Jan. 30, 1943.

They immediately moved to Los Angeles, where Mr. Shank went to work in the aircraft industry upon his college graduation.

Mr. and Mrs. Shank moved to Durango in 1975, but they had started vacationing here in 1950. The family fondly remembers early train rides, crossing Wolf Creek Pass before it was paved, lots of off-roading and hiking in the mountains.

"Dorothy's greatest joy was her family," according to her family. "As the heart of a close-knit family, she was adored by everyone."

While living in California, she studied education at San Fernando Valley State College and served on the Board of Deacons and Session of Encino Presbyterian Church, where the family was active for more than 40 years. She joined the P.E.O. Sisterhood in 1972 in California and moved her membership to Chapter FX in Durango.

An avid quilter, she was a charter member of the La Plata Quilters Guild. She also enjoyed sewing, attending church with the family and gardening. Her children often referred to her as "Mother Nature," they said.

Mrs. Shank volunteered as a coordinator for Meals on Wheels and tutored nursing students at Fort Lewis College.

"She especially loved Durango in the fall with its resplendent colors," according to her family.

Mrs. Shank was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Bob Shank; and granddaughter Krystin Shank.

She is survived by her children Margien Gram, of Durango, Bob Shank, of Monte Vista, and Don Shank, of South Fork; four grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Cremation will occur. A memorial service, burial in the Columbarium and reception will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, at the First United Methodist Church of Durango, 2917 Aspen Drive.