Elizabeth Fleck

As her time with us neared its end, Elizabeth Fleck circled back toward the beginning.

Sitting in the garden at Manzano del Sol, where she lived the last years of her life, she would reminisce about a childhood at Lake Arrowhead, in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California.

At first they were memories - perhaps triggered by the lovely pine trees in Manzano's Albuquerque garden. Over time she seemed transported there, and there she was happy, as if the Manzano garden had become the Switzer Resort at Twin Peaks, down the road from Lake Arrowhead.

"It is hard to tell whether the things I think I remember are true memory or just recollection of stories I heard over the years," she wrote in a 1997 reminiscence written for her children. "I'll try not to romanticize my memories, but I do remember a happy childhood."

That was vintage Elizabeth Fleck - positively affirming in a way that reflected a lifelong drive to create the best around her through the power of a positive mind.

Born Gertrude Elizbeth Berry in March 17, 1920, in San Bernardino, California, she was always "Elizabeth" to her family and friends. A teacher, and a lifelong reader and writer, she loved theater, her native San Bernardino, her family, and Scotty dogs.

She loved deeply twice. Her first, Gene Doerr, died in 1952 in San Bernardino as the result of injuries he suffered during the Second World War. Her second, Bob Fleck, died in 2012 in Albuquerque.

Elizabeth died Feb. 11 in Albuquerque. Her family would like to thank the staff at Manzano del Sol and Ambercare, whose loving care for Elizabeth is deeply appreciated. She is survived by two daughters and a son - Lisa, Lissa, and John - and their families.