Services
Obituary
Elizabeth Hope Walton, age 85, of Britt, IA, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on February 13, 2025, at Westview Care Center in Britt, Iowa.
A Celebration of Life for Liz will be held from 4:00 - 6:00 pm on Friday, February 21st, 2025, at Ewing Funeral Home, 178 Center Street, in Britt, Iowa. A Service of Remembrance will follow at 6:00 pm. Those in attendance are invited to wear casual and colorful clothing.
Liz was born and raised in Waukegan, Illinois, with her two older brothers, Tom and Bill. Tommy being her favorite playmate, allowing her to assist him in his myriad magic tricks / adventures, then sharing his secrets with as many as would listen. While Bill assumed the role of her teacher and babysitter, ensuring a disciplined approach to her schoolwork and bedtimes. She never took a wooden nickel.
Liz bought a house and made a wonderful life for her four children in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, later moving them to Kenosha, Wisconsin where she made many lifelong friends during her lengthy career as a lab technician at Ocean Spray Cranberries. After her retirement, Liz relocated to Racine, Wisconsin, where she played a crucial role in helping to raise five of her beloved grandchildren. Later in life, Liz moved to be near her daughter in Britt, Iowa, where she enjoyed time with family and great-grandchildren. As always, Liz collected new friends who did their best to teach her new card games and though she insisted she never played well, it was their friendships she cherished.
She was known by all as an avid reader and collector of books. But, she was equally as big a collector of Lladro statues, owls, snowmen, and all things of beauty. Whatever she was collecting, Liz did it with complete abandonment; it's been said she assisted in paying for Agatha Christie’s retirement. Her skills as a ceramic and porcelain artist were and remain unmatched. Her pieces, many one of a kind, were shared with love and pride with family and friends. But Liz’s greatest collection and achievement was her family, which she proudly raised as a single mother and her friends, which she collected with love wherever she went. Liz is survived by her children Mark (Barbara), Jenny (Tom), and Brian (Peggy). Liz was blessed with 10 grandchildren: Garrid, Mindy (Dennis), Samantha (Levi), Alex (Natalie), Maxwell, Jhadzia, Conor, Ceyenne (Jimmy), Thade, Torun; and 4 great-grandchildren: Ryilee, Kaydin, Logan and Eli.
Liz was predeceased by her mother Hope (Elwell) Hoye-Buck, father T. Hobart Hoye, her brothers Thomas H. Hoye and William O. Hoye and her first born James Michael Thompson.
The family gives heartfelt thanks to Liz’s many dear friends, past and present, to both the Westview Care Center and Cardinal Grove staff for the love and care given to our mother, and to MercyOne North Iowa Hospice for their compassion and care.