Connie S. Lane

Connie Sue Lane passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Monday, May 23rd, 2016.
Connie was born on April 22, 1943 in St.Francis, Kansas to parents Samuel and Emma (Eggers) Brunswig. She grew up on the family homestead in Bird City, Kansas with her siblings Charles, Raquel and Ronald where they attended a one - room schoolhouse. She was very active in 4-H, where she learned about raising livestock, gardening, sewing and cooking. She attended McCook college in Kansas from 1963 to 1964 until her mother Emma passed away. In time, Connie's father Sam was remarried to Florence Waters, also of Bird City.
In the 60's, Connie was a flight attendant with Continental Airlines in Denver for a few years before marrying Jon Kidneigh, with whom she had her two daughters, Lori and Jodi Kidneigh. Connie's step-mother Florence passed away before the girls were born, and Sam married Mildred Allen in the later part of that decade. Connie and Jon divorced in 1971.
In the mid-70's, Connie and her two daughters moved to Fort Collins to be nearer to her father Sam and his wife Mildred. In Fort Collins, Connie worked for the Department of Energy, and was active with her daughters in the Larimer County 4-H Club. She focused on raising her daughters, and giving them opportunities to learn and grow.
In the 80's Connie became a schhol bus driver for Poudre R-1 School District. Here she met George Lane, also a school bus driver, and an artist, and the man who would be with her for most of the rest of her life.
In 1988, Connie married George Lane in Allenspark at St. Malo's Cathedral. With George, Connie became active in ITC, and storytelling. In both cases, she and George made an outstanding team because George was an amazing artist, and he enjoyed creating posters and illustrations for her speeches and stories. George had built a beautiful cabin up in Allenspark, and the couple created many wonderful memories there during the summers.
Connie enjoyed being an Avon representative, and made many friends in the course of business. George was active in helping her with her Avon as well.
Connie was always passionately creative, and was tremendously skilled in many different crafts including, sewing, knitting, needlepoint, paper crafts, among many others. She could make just about anything. She taught Sunday School for many years, and enjoyed sharing her craftiness with the kids. In later years she enjoyed teaching craft classes at both the Worthington and Legacy Senior Living.
Although Connie endured many health issues, she made the best of it by making friends with the many nurses and doctors who helped her over the years. She would often be working on a craft during some kind of doctor's visit, and would end up taking orders for more of whatever she was making from the nurses. She also became the Avon lady for many of her caregivers.
Connie was the doting Grandmother of Christina Terry, Christopher Walen and Michael Walen. She enjoyed making clothes, and toys and crafts for them. She was step-mother to Kimberly, Leslie and Jon Kidneigh, and David, Judy and Doreen Lane. She also was the adoptive grandmother of her granddaughter Christina's step-siblings, and great-grandmother to their children. A natural teacher, Connie taught her daughters to sew, cook and crochet among other skills through 4H. She was also their first piano teacher. Later on she taught piano to her great-neice Rachel.
Connie loved children, and one of her favorite things to do was to go to tell stories to elementary school students. She was so sorry to miss her last storytelling date of this school year.
Connie's final wishes were to have her ashes scattered in the beautiful woods around the Lane cabin in Allenspark, Colorado.