Mrs. Alta Lee Kimble, age 82, passed away Monday, March 25, in Pagosa Springs, Colo. She resided in the Beehive of Pagosa Springs since moving back to the area in June 2023. She and her late husband, Thomas “Gary” Kimble, had a home in Pagosa for 40 years, using it as their home base while traveling and working both abroad and stateside. In 2015, due to Gary’s health, they relocated to Mesquite, Nev., for three years then to St. George, Utah. Upon his passing in May 2023 after 60 years of marriage, Alta returned to the area.
Born in Silver City, N.M., July 6, 1941, Alta and her two brothers were raised by their single mother in that area. She dreamed of traveling, and after she and Gary married in 1963 their journey began. Moving to Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and California, they built a family of three girls and a son. She told him enough kids, but let’s keep moving. In 1973, the overseas adventure began as they moved to Saudi Arabia working for ARAMCO, Arabian American Oil Company. Alta went to work as a helicopter scheduler in addition to raising the children. While abroad, the family enjoyed trips such as exploring Europe by train, shipping a car to Amsterdam and driving back through the Middle East to Saudi Arabia, and traveling the Far East through Hawaii, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.
Upon returning to the U.S., their home was a 40-acre property located in Brooksville, Ind. This was where they began building an equine business of buying, breeding and selling quarter horses.
Alta enjoyed working with the horses, driving the tractor, mending fences and still found time for a beautiful vegetable garden. She was an excellent seamstress and quilter. No matter where she lived, she always had an activity room as she enjoyed cross-stitching, macramé, reupholstering and a number of crafts. She never let her hands remain idle. In 2003 they retired and moved the business to Pagosa Springs.
Alta was a faithful woman and always found a church home and Christian family wherever they lived. Active in the church Grace in Pagosa, she opened her home for Bible studies and social events. She could stretch a meal and would always offer a seat at her table.
Alta loved to spend time with her grandchildren and as “Grandma” made memorable adventures for them all. She was “GGMA” to her 12 great-grandchildren. Remembered fondly by those lives she touched, she was a beautiful soul inside and out and was ready with a smile until her passing day.
She is survived by her daughters, Anja (Steve) Potter, of Edgewater, Fla., and Leslee Vause, of Pagosa Springs, Colo.; and brother Forest Wayne (Linda) Goforth, of Gallup, N.M. She is also survived by her granddaughters: Annie (Trevor, Rory, Ryn) Gian and Haley (Damien) West, of Pagosa Springs; Serena Colten Stark, of Oahu, Hawaii; Keenan Walker, of Dallas, Texas; Kaitlyn Talamante (Juanito, Wyatt, Jonathon), of Victoria, Texas; and Johanna Potter, of Cary, N.C. Also, her grandsons: Todd Logan Thompson, of Pagosa Springs; London Walker (Brooke, Roman, Elijah), of Little Rock, Ark.; Brandon Stark (Briana, Mika, Andre, Cory), of Colorado Springs; and Bronson Stark (Daniela, Jeremiah, Jackson, Jordan, Isabella), of Albuquerque, N.M.
