Ellen Viola Horton

I don’t know how much luckier a person can be on this earth to have had such a wonderful life and be able to acknowledge it! This is me.
I was born to two wonderful Italian immigrants, Jim Chiodo and Palma Notorianni. They came to this country wanting to make a better life for themselves and for their four children.
My two sisters Clara and Carmela were 15 and 16 years old when I was born. My sister Pam came 18 months later. I had a wonderful childhood filled with pasta, homemade bread, huge family dinners and the loving care of parents that were beyond awesome.
I graduated from South High School in 1967 and then met my wonderful partner for life, Chick Horton. He was 17 and I was 18. I knew after the third date that he would be the guy I married. Doubt he knew that but I guess I could be very convincing.
Chick had 22 years in the Army and I went everywhere with him except Desert Storm. What a fantastic life we had while he was stationed so many places and we could visit the states and Europe while there. We loved that our children were able to enjoy so many of the places we were. So many memories.
I had many wonderful jobs, pretty much starting at the bottom because we moved 16 times in those 22 years. But they were fabulous jobs with incredible people. What a blessing to have been able to have experienced so much and have the friendships from all over.
One of the biggest loves of my life was our children and grandchildren. We had Travis first in Salt Lake and he was the quiet one. Troy was next and he was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and he was the smart child. And then Jaime in Fort Hood, Texas and she was our fun-loving, take care of mom and dad child. They were all born within 41/2 years of each other and Jaime said that “I was always easy.” Maybe she was right!
They have wonderful spouses Stephanie, Jill and partner, Sarah. Best of all we had two wonderful grandchildren Cole and Max.
I was very active in the Italian American Civic League and pretty much chaired or co-chaired all activities and held all offices. I was very physically active all my life, running a couple of marathons and many half marathons and races. My friends thought I was crazy.
The other love was for the National Parks and it became my bucket list to see all in the U.S.; out of 63 I saw 55. I loved my sisters Clara, Carmela and Pam. There was no agenda with us, we told it like it was.
I loved the Book Club, Sherrilyn/Butch, Star/Dale and Sonja/Terry. Also loved my childhood friend Elona Hayward.
Ellen did a great job of covering her life in her own words. She actually wrote her own obituary in November 2013, so we suspect she knew something was happening with her memory. In 2019 we did a family trip to Italy to celebrate our 50th anniversary that wasn’t until 2020. We decided to do it a year early because of her declining memory. Since 2013 we did many trips to our cabin and trailer trips with family and friends. Trips to Oakland, California to deal with her older sisters estate and to get Carmela here to Utah where she remains in the same memory care unit as Ellen was in.
Ellen is survived by her husband, Chick; children Travis, wife Stephanie and grandson Cole; Troy, wife Jill and grandson, Max; daughter Jaime and partner Sarah; sisters Carmela and Pam.
The family wishes to thank Rebecca Shaw, the U of Utah Memory care doctor; care givers from Visiting Angels; the memory care staff at the Abbington in Murray; her hospice nurse Hali and aide Liz from Renew Home Health and her supporting family and friends.
She endured many months of memory issues from Alzheimers and can now be free from this horrible disease and at peace.
Friends are invited to celebrate her life at a viewing on Tuesday, April 8th from 6:00 until 8:00 PM at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City. Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 9th at 11:00 AM at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, 7405 S Redwood Rd, West Jordan, UT.
In lieu of flowers please donate to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) at www.npca.org