Carla Jo Arthur passed away at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, CO, on September 18, 2023, following a hip surgery and several subsequent complications over the last year.
Carla was born August 25, 1955, to Robert and Alma (Gibbons) Thomas in Montrose, CO. Carla grew up and attended school in Montrose and later attended nursing school at The University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver, CO, and received her training certificate in Hemodialysis.
Carla met and married Gordon Lee Arthur and together they moved to Yuma, CO. They had one son, Coty, born June 6, 1979, who attended and graduated from Yuma schools. Lee passed away in 1996 after complications from diabetic neuropathy.
Carla met Howard Dresen in Yuma and together they spent almost 28 years together. They went on many adventures and travels over the years. Their favorite memories included gambling on her birthday in Central City & Blackhawk, they enjoyed vacations to Las Vegas, NV, Branson, MO, fishing trips in South Dakota, Broncos, Rockies, and Nuggets games, fishing and boating in the summers, and they attended and worked the stock show for several years in Denver.
Carla’s love of cooking, canning, and sewing was infectious to all. Carla could cook anything and was a wonderful baker. At Christmas time, Carla worked for weeks to make special homemade goodies to share with friends and family. The family favorites included her Rocky Road, peanut brittle, toffee, and fudge. Howard loved her heavy old-fashioned checkerboard cakes she would make each year for his birthday. Carla had a special knack for canning and would put up jars of peaches, salmon, tomatoes, pickles, jellies and jams, beets, and green beans. Carla could create and sew almost anything from creative aprons for the guys to making and mending blankets and jeans. One special gift she made was using Grandpa Dresen’s jeans, overalls, and shirts to make patchwork blankets for his grandchildren. She loved Halloween and each year she would invite her granddaughter Avery over and they would bake cookies and make popcorn balls for the trick or treaters. Carla often boasted about how many trick or treaters they would get at their home on Main Street. Most years they would have well over 100 kids knocking on their door and many of them were asking for popcorn balls. She also loved Easter and for many years would fill hundreds of plastic eggs with goodies for the grandchildren’s Easter egg hunt.
Carla had a wonderful garden and flowers that bloomed up beautifully each year. Her peonies were vibrant and had numerous blooms in many colors. She also had several colors of iris and tulips that came up each year. Her deep purple clematis vine flourished adding remarkable color to their backyard along with her rose garden. Her favorite was the yellow peony tree and her rock garden filled with various mums and flowers. For many years, Carla planted a large garden and had vegetables all summer; their favorites being homegrown tomatoes and zucchini. She loved making several batches of zucchini bread and sharing with family and friends.
Carla was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Alma, half-siblings, Robert Jackson, Kay Jackson, Colleen Jackson, and Donald (Butch) Seevers, and husband Lee Arthur.
Carla is survived by the love of her life, Howard Dresen, her son Coty, wife Courtney and children Patrick, Christopher, Jasmine, and Josie; her stepson Kevin, wife Rachel and children Kevin, Jr. and Vivian; stepdaughter Kim, husband Jeff and daughter Avery; stepson Kris, wife Andrea and children Tucker and Presley.
Carla will be remembered as a strong-willed woman who loved to tell stories. She loved Howard and her grandchildren with all her heart. She enjoyed entertaining and cooking for numerous guests at a time as well as being a homemaker. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.
2023-09-29