-Anonymous added Zelma's obituary on April 12, 2013

Luzana Zelma Gregory Age: 95 Residence: Greeley, CO Tribute: Luzana Zelma Smith, a red headed girl, was born January 18, 1912, in Fulton County, Arkansas, near the no-longer-existing community of Climax. She was youngest of the ten children of Charles Judy Smith and Rhoda Jane Miller Smith, including her brother Frank who had died earlier. At a very early age she moved with family to Fisher Bottoms, now a part of Sand Springs, Arkansas. Shortly before she began elementary school the family moved again to McKinney, Texas. Initially known to most of her siblings as "Zana," after starting school, she became known to friends and later family as "Zelma." At about age ten, she again moved with her family to McPherson, Kansas, her most formative "home town." In McPherson, Zelma attended an elementary/junior high school operated by Central College as part of its teacher-training program, and later Central Academy (high school) and College. At Central she met her future husband, Elburn Orland Gregory, of northern Missouri, though their courtship and marriage were years later. Following completion of an Associate degree from Central, then a junior college, she completed her Bachelor's degree at Emporia State Teachers College (Kansas), in the field of library science. She was employed at the McPherson City Library and the library of McPherson College, until her marriage, at the Free Methodist Church in McPherson, May 24, 1944, the wedding performed by her Uncle Frank M. Smith. After her marriage, she and Elburn lived in Minneapolis and Roxbury, Kansas, where he taught before moving to Greeley for a graduate degree at Colorado State College of Education (now UNC). During the years of study they both decided they preferred the Colorado climate to Missouri or Kansas and settled in Ault, where Mr. Gregory served as elementary principal for 25 years. After both of their children were in school Zelma taught fifth and sixth grades in the Ault Elementary School and later supervised the high school and junior high libraries for the Highland School District. Former students remained among her loyal friends to the end. She was known in Ault for her gardening, including iris, African violets, gloxinias, and many fruits and vegetables. She won many ribbons through the years at the Ault Fall Festival for flower arrangements, banana bread, jellies and both fresh and canned fruits and vegetables. In November, 2002, she moved The Bridge Assisted Living facility in Greeley, where she was a friend to many and known to all as the unofficial caretaker of all growing plants and cut flowers inside or outside. She was a longtime member of the Greeley Free Methodist Church, Colorado WCTU, Ault Senior Center, Central Christian College Historical Society, and an association for growers of African violets and gesneriads. Zelma died Sunday, April 29, 2007 at Hospice & Palliative Care of Northern Colorado Inc. Inpatient Unit at NCMC. Survivors: A son and daughter-in-law of San Jose, California; a daughter and son-in-law of Porterville, California; two grandsons; other relatives who looked to her as a rich source of memories of her generation; and a host of friends from every place that she had lived or worked. Preceded in death by: Parents; her brothers Carl, William, Wallace, and Clarence; her sisters Edna Barrett, Anna Barrett, Bertha Dixon, and Mary Rhea. Visitation: 10:00 until 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, May, 1, 2007 at First United Methodist Church. Services: 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, May, 1, 2007 at First United Methodist Church. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens. Note: Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice & Palliative Care of Northern Colorado Inc., Central Christian College of Kansas and/or Free Methodist World Mission in care of Adamson Funeral & Cremation Services 2000 47th Ave. Greeley, CO 80634.