Dee King

1932-2026

Dorothy “Dee” Nadean (Widner) King was born prematurely March 31, 1932, on Redlands Mesa, near Hotchkiss, Colorado. Her parents were Chester Owen Widner and Mabel Irene (Ruble) Widner. Dee weighed about one pound at birth. For warmth, she slept in a shoebox swaddled in cotton on the oven door of a coal stove. Her parents fed her with an eyedropper. Against all odds, she survived—a fighter was born.

Dee attended a one-room schoolhouse on West Redlands through seventh grade. They “skipped her over” 8th grade, and she attended Hotchkiss High School, graduating in 1949. That summer, she lived and worked with her aunt in Delta. Dee met the handsome, older, red-headed Chester Donald “Don” King on a blind date. They dated for three months. Don injured his leg hunting, came off the mountain and said, “We got nothin’ else to do, let’s get married.” They did, in a double ceremony with her cousin in a house on Main Street on October 18, 1949. That marriage lasted 68 years, until Don passed away. She never removed her wedding ring.

Shortly thereafter, Don was called to active duty in the Army. He was stationed at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. Dee joined him and they lived in a small trailer. In the summer of 1952, Dee returned to Hotchkiss and her grandmother—a midwife—helped deliver their first child, Chester Dennis. After Don was reassigned to Fort Carson, they hauled their trailer to Colorado Springs behind a passenger car. Ready to grow their family, Dee, already nine months pregnant, boarded a train for Hotchkiss with a trunk of clothes and a three-year-old on her shrinking lap. Their daughter, Gayla Denise, was brought into the world in May of 1955. Upon Don’s Army discharge, they returned to Delta, settling in the home where she remained until death. The final addition to the family came with Donald Brett in 1963. Don was involved in the automotive industry and eventually owned the Hinton Auto Electric parts store. Dee took great pride in supporting him through his years of business. Don died in 2017.

Dee had a heart for working with children and adolescents. She was a school-room mother, a Sunday School teacher, and a Cub Scout den mother. While working at the Delta Junior High School, she acted as a substitute teacher and cited that experience as her most meaningful professional role. Later, Dee worked for the School District as the administrative assistant to the Title I Director. She joined the Delta United Methodist Church in 1966 and held numerous positions within the church over her six decades as a member.

Dee lived for her family above all else and was fiercely protective and supportive of them all. She was a poet at heart, infusing her poems with imagination, grace, and sparkling humor. Dee enjoyed dancing, riding motorcycles, snowmobiling, playing pinochle with close friends, traveling the world as well as each of the 50 States, taking cruises, playing make-believe with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, watching Colorado sports, camping, gardening, and taking care of their home for 71 years. She never lost her love for Redlands Mesa.

Her heart quit fighting on March 23, 2026, just one week before her 94th birthday, at the Hope West care center in Grand Junction, Colorado. Her son, Dennis, died in 2022. She is survived by Dennis’s wife, Lorie King, of Fruita; her daughter, Gayla Clay (Aaron) of Delta; son Brett King (Cheri) of Westminster; brother Ernie Widner (Donna) of Grand Junction, and sister Janet “Judy” Heckenlively of Hotchkiss; seven grandchildren—Nathan Clay (Amanda), Andrea Thomas (James), Amanda Sparks (Steven), Whitney Hemphill (Henry), Brady, Devin, and Tylyn King; and nine great-grandchildren—Patrick, Owen, Naomi, Willa, Jackson, Carson, Lukas, Rowan, and Korbin.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Delta United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 427, Delta, CO 81416. A private internment has taken place. A public Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.