1928 - 2011

Elsie Asten Clapp-Hansen-Faught

Elsie Asten Clapp-Hansen-Faught, 83, of Fort Collins, passed away May 30, 2011, after an 18-year management of Parkinson’s disease. Elsie was born Sept. 29, 1928, in McCook, Neb., where she attended high school and graduated with honors in 1946. She attended Monticello College in Alton, Ill., and then transferred to the University of Nebraska in 1947. While attending the University of Nebraska, she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and completed an international student exchange program at the National University of Mexico in Mexico City. Elsie graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1951 with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a minor in Spanish. After graduation, she worked as a flight attendant for Frontier Airlines in Denver and then at Denver General Hospital.
She married Richard Ray Hansen, M.D., at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in McCook, Neb., in 1952. Richard Ray Hansen enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a medical officer, during which service Elsie gave birth to surviving children, Richard Ray Hansen II, in Hawaii, and Thomas (Tod) R. Hansen in Bangor, Maine (both currently in Fort Collins).
After military service, two additional surviving children, Trish Hansen Tanner (Fort Collins) and James C. Hansen (Steamboat Springs) were born in Denver while Richard Ray Hansen completed residency training (1958-1960) in obstetrics and gynecology. Elsie and her family relocated to Fort Collins in 1960, where Richard Ray Hansen started his medical practice. Both Elsie and Richard developed an interest in Limousin cattle in the 1970s. Richard Ray Hansen passed away in an airplane accident in 1982. Elsie remarried in 1989 to Thomas Faught and then relocated to Oakridge, Ore., where Thomas was head of logging operations for Pope and Talbot Logging Co. After the death of Thomas Faught in 1992, Elsie moved to Steamboat Springs. In 1993, Elsie was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and then moved back to Fort Collins in 2001 to receive specialized medical care. For the last 18 years, Elsie managed her condition, which she “affectionately” named “Burt,” with the support of her family.
She was preceded in death by her father, Hiram Cornell Clapp; mother, Bertha Asten Clapp; and sister, Patricia Ruth Shepherd. Elsie also is survived by her brother, Hiram Cornell Clapp II (Flagler Beach, Fla.); 11 grandchildren; and her stepson, Neil Faught (Oakridge, Ore.).
The Rev. Dr. Harold R. Warren will preside over burial services at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 2000 Stover St., Fort Collins.
Visit http://www. bohlender
funeralchapel.com/ to sign an online guestbook. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memoriam of Elsie to the Parkinson’s Support Group in Larimer County, www.pdsupportlc.net.