Meet The Lyons

Week 1: #52 Ancestors – Beginnings

By Eilene Lyon

As I mentioned in my post Reflections, I plan to do a number of stories on The Putterer’s family this year. Neither he, nor his sister, have children to pass their legacy to. But there could be extended family (second cousins or beyond) who may find the subject matter of interest. Generally, I will work my way back through the generations, beginning with him and his sister.

The Putterer and his sister began life on a farm outside the small town of LaMoille, Illinois, in the 1940s. They are the children of Clifford Park Lyon, Jr. (Cliff) and Frances Mary Struss (Fran). Their father had one sister, and their mother was an only child. Hence, they had few close relatives: an aunt, an uncle, three cousins, and grandparents.

In 1956, the Lyon family relocated from Illinois to Colorado Springs. Cliff gave up farming and went to work as an estimator in the commercial construction industry. In 1964, the family moved again, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cliff purchased a manufacturers’ rep business, which he ran until selling it at retirement.

The Putterer completed high school and some college at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. He served three years in the Army, including a year in Vietnam before returning to college to earn a degree in Economics. He married his first wife in 1969 when he was 21, and they were both in attendance at the University of New Mexico.

His sister settled in Boulder, Colorado, to attend the University of Colorado, and married her first husband at age 22 in Colorado Springs. She married again in 1984 in Virginia, and has generally lived on the east coast since then.

The Putterer married yours truly in 1999 in Durango, Colorado, and has been living happily ever after!