Lucylle Marie Means

Lucille (Busse) Means
May 31, 1920 - November 14, 2018

Lucylle Marie (Busse) Means was born on May 31, 1920, in Rocky Ford, Colorado, to August and Matilda (Ewy) Busse. Her family moved to Delta, Colorado where her father was the master mechanic for the Holly Sugar factory. After graduation from Delta High School, Lucylle (affectionately known as "Lou") moved to San Diego, California, where her brother, Cora (known as "Bus"), was in the Navy. Lou worked at the Consolidated Aircraft assembly plant with her sister-in-law Lois, and there met her future husband, Erwin Means, an electrician at Consolidated.

During World War II, Consolidated Aircraft constructed B-24 bombers for the war effort. Erwin joined the Army and fought in the European theatre while Lou's brother, Bus, served in the Navy in the Pacific. Both returned from the war safely, and on August 2, 1945, Erwin and Lou were married in Aztec, New Mexico and settled in Durango, Colorado, which would be their home for the next 60 years.

There they raised their two children: Dennis Erwin, born in 1946, and Kathy Lou, born in 1950. In Durango, Lou served as adviser in her local service sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, participated in the Elks Women's Auxiliary, and was a longtime member of the Durango United Methodist Church. She enjoyed multiple bridge clubs and, when her children went to college, worked in the catalog department of the local Montgomery Ward. She retired from Wards before the store was closed.

Erwin passed away in 2005, and a year later Lou sold the Durango home and moved to Denver to be closer to her adult children and extended family. Lou loved Jesus, loved her family, enjoyed card games and table games, and loved to laugh. She took delight in cooking meals and treats for family and friends, and was famous among family members for her homemade chicken and noodles.

Preceding Lou in death was her husband, Erwin C. Means; her brother, Cora Eugene "Bus" Busse; and her sister, Mildred (Busse) Beal. She is survived by her son, Dennis Means of Lakewood, Colorado, and Dennis' wife Elma (Archer) Means; her daughter, Kathy (Means) Benson and Kathy's husband, Dan Benson of Colorado Springs; and her granddaughter, Kimberly (Means) Henderson and her husband, Gary Henderson, of Golden, Colorado. Lou has four great-grandchildren, one-great-great-grandson, several granddogs as well as nieces and nephews.

Memorial service will be held at St. James Presbyterian Church, 3601 W. Belleview in Littleton, Colorado on December 8, 2018 at 11:00 am. There will also be a memorial service in Durango, Colorado at a date to be announced with interment at the Greenmount Cemetery in Durango, Colorado.