Gayle Elliott

Gayle Mortensen Connor Elliott of Los Ranchos, New Mexico passed away on Monday, February 19, 2024 after a battle with Atypical Parkinsons Disease. She was born in Manti, Utah on March 16, 1943 to Fred and Bonnie Mortensen. Her father was in the Army Air Force and was stationed in various places around the world. Gayle and her brother Fred were raised in Utah, Texas, Illinois, Japan, North Carolina, Paris France, and Maryland where she graduated from High School. In 1961, the family moved to Albuquerque where her father was stationed following his heart attack.

Gayle graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in mathematics. While attending the University, she worked at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory as a Scientific Aide. After graduation she accepted a job as a staff member at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. There she met and married her first husband, Thomas Robert Connor. After losing her husband due to a lost plane over the pacific, she worked at Los Alamos, then moved to Albuquerque where she was employed by IBM and subsequently by Sandia National Laboratory.

She married Raymond Elliott in 1994, although they had met in 1966 at Los Alamos where they were competing for limited computer graphics resources. They built a new home in Los Ranchos and lived there since then. Gayle continued to be an enthusiastic, resourceful volunteer at the Weems Art Fest and at the Supercomputing international conferences. She loved her series of Cairn Terriers and trained some of them in Dog Agility up to 18 months before her death.

She is predeceased by her parents and her first husband, Robert Connor. She is survived by her husband, Raymond Elliott; her brother, Fred Mortensen and wife, Jeanette; and her nephew, Casey.

A Visitation will be held Sunday, February 25, 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., at FRENCH - University. A Funeral Service will be held Monday, February 26, 2024, 11:00 a.m., at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-Montano Ward, 1100 Montano Rd. NW.