Essie F. Jeffers Best Aspinall [1897-1983]

Individual, Aspinall_Essie

Lifetime

1897 – 1983

About

She was born in Missouri to Eddie L. Jeffers, a preacher, and Mary L. Jeffers, a homemaker. Her mother’s health caused the family to move to Palisade, Colorado in 1910, when Essie was 13. There, her father purchased a peach orchard. She graduated from Palisade High School in 1915 and obtained her Mesa County Teaching Certificate that same year. She moved with her family to Denver in 1916. She taught in Eads in 1916-17. She also taught in Sedgewick, Colorado, where she received special commendation from the superintendent congratulating her for the high scores of her pupils. Colorado county marriage records show that she married Frank Harold Best in Denver in 1918. Best was a childhood friend of hers from Palisade. He was the proprietor of a women’s clothing store in Grand Junction. The 1920 US Census shows them living together in Palisade and the 1930 Census shows them living in Grand Junction. Essie was the childhood friend of Wayne Aspinall (who was himself friends with Best) and married the US Congressman in 1970, when she was 73 years old. She was an accomplished piano player. She was a member of the Palisade Methodist Church and a member of the CD Chapter of the Ladies National Organization of the P.E.O.

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