Lelia Dell Blew Duncan Pierson was born in Baca County, Colorado to Charles Blew and Sylvia (Luellen) Blew on February 4, 1932. When she was about 3 her family moved back to Castleton, Kansas. Dell graduated from Castleton High School and then studied to become a school teacher. Marriage came next to Frank Duncan, and they moved to his home in Colorado after his hitch in Navy, where they raised four children. Frank and Dell were ranchers and hunting lodge owners. Dell was a substitute teacher part-time, and later became the school secretary at Little Snake River Valley Schools for 22 years before retirement. She is still known as “Gramma Dell” to this day. Dell was versatile and could turn her hand to whatever needed to be done, from school bus driver, waitressing and bar tending to name a few. She worked hard at everything she undertook.
In her retirement she decided to move back to be near family in Mt. Hope, Kansas where she took great pleasure in her flower gardens and joined a bowling team. She also loved to go out to eat, attended church (where she participated in many service projects) and went to every one of the Blew family reunions. She was a loving mother, grandmother and friend, greatly loved by all. In 2017, Dell moved back to Colorado.
Dell went to heaven on Sunday, May 29, 2022, and joined her heavenly friends and family after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
She is preceded in death by her parents, her son Hubert “Hub” Duncan, her son-in-law Byron Martin, her brothers, Byron Blew, Lyle Blew and Charles “Leon” Blew, her sisters Betty Dow, Neva Kaufman and Beth Chandler. She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Patsy (Donnie) Morris of Pueblo West, CO, daughter, Debbie (Bruce) Hootman of Parker, CO, daughter, Janice Martin of Greenwood Village, CO, son, Greg (Kaydee) Duncan of Temple, TX, and grandchildren Misty (Ron) Greer, Eli (Jill) Duncan, Cate (Jani) Strzepek, Bex Hootman (Justin Foster), Dylan (Nicole) Martin, Thomas Duncan, and Timothy Duncan, as well as great grandson Nathan Coll and great granddaughters Lily Schlesinger and Hazel Martin. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews in both the Blew and the Duncan families.
A memorial service for Dell will be held at a later date in Mt. Hope, Kansas with details to follow on Facebook later this summer. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association HERE.
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