Elizabeth "Liz" Richmond Colter

Elizabeth Richmond Colter “Liz”, 92, formerly of Phoenix, Prescott and Eagar, Arizona, died Wednesday, November 2, 2022, in Dana Point, California.

Born February 17, 1930, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Liz was the daughter of John O’Donnel Richmond and Emily Acker Richmond. Both her siblings, Lee Richmond Barker and Lincoln Acker Richmond, predeceased Liz.

Survivors include five children: Emily Taranta, Los Angeles, California; Nancy Greene, Laguna Niguel, California; John Harrison (Barbara) Colter, Orem, Utah; Mary Lee (Marsden) Stewart, Gig Harbor, Washington; and Ann (Kyle) Matthews, Wayne, Pennsylvania; 18 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Liz attended the University of Arizona where she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and Mortar Board. She was Student Body Secretary in the 1949-1950 school year and met her husband James Harrison Colter “Jim” while in college. They were married November 1, 1950.  Jim died May 2, 2000. She was later married to James William Helfinstine “Bill” until his death, April 23, 2021.

Liz was a school teacher, homemaker and volunteer. She was active in the Phoenix Symphony Guild, the Mental Health Guild and Republican Party where she served for many years as a precinct committee person. Liz was an avid hiker; walking across the Grand Canyon in one day many times the last time when she was seventy. She climbed Mt. Whitney when she was fifty-eight and played with various tennis leagues into her eighties.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 3, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. at Burnham Mortuary, Eagar, Arizona.

The family requests that no donations be made.  The mortuary website hosts all memorial gifting and sympathy donations, which are not affiliated with the family or decedent.

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