Lila Cope Otey
March 31, 1917 - May 4, 2007

Lila Cope Otey, 90, a resident of Devonshire Acres Living Center in Sterling and formerly of Atwood, died of natural causes May 4, 2007, in Sterling.

Private family inurnment will be held at Resthaven Memorial Gardens south of Fort Collins, where her ashes will be interred next to her sister, Eva McCoy.

Mrs. Otey was born March 31, 1917, in Pattonsburg, Mo., to Jesse and Delia (Culver) Brown. She survived both of her husbands, Jake D. Cope of Fort Collins, who died in 1955, and William R. Otey of Boulder, who died in 1984.

She helped Jake Cope develop the successful Mountain Marketeria grocery store in Fort Collins, and she financed and helped Bill Otey build the Diamond 99 Marina in Eau Gallie, Fla. She retired with Bill Otey to Boulder in the early 1970s.

Mrs. Otey is survived by her brother, Edwin Brown of Fort Collins; her two sons, Bob Cope of Atwood and Larry Cope of Medford, Ore.; her daughter, Jean Goodnight of Asheboro, N.C.; and one stepson, William Otey Jr. of Napa Valley, Calif.; and seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren living in North Carolina, Arizona, Florida, California and Oregon.

She loved to play golf, and her PGA golf teacher and friend, Sol Goldberg of Boulder, stated that she was "the best natural putter" he had ever seen. She will missed by her friends and family.

Chaney-Reager Funeral Home handled the arrangements.