Elizabeth Otto

Canton, Elizabeth Colgan Otto, age 93, went to be with The Lord on Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Silver Bluff Village in Canton, North Carolina. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 29, 1923, she was the daughter of the late Robert and Isobel Colgan, newly immigrated from Northern Ireland. Her nickname resulted from that Irish heritage. She was raised in Miami, Florida, arriving there with her family just before the "Great Miami" Hurricane of 1926 destroyed their new home. A graduate from Miami High School, she went to Florida State College for Women, graduating with a degree in chemistry and physics at the age of 19. She then attended Emory University where she studied medicine until World War II ended. Along with other females in the medical program, she was displaced from the program by returning veterans. She met and married Albert Otto in Atlanta in 1948. She worked as a microbiologist while Albert attended Dallas Theological Seminary and Dropsy University in Philadelphia. They had planned to be missionaries in China but when China closed, they decided to pursue mission opportunities through the Chaplaincy Corps of the US Navy. Albert ministered to the Sailors and Marines while Pat established Bible study groups and Sunday-School programs for the families at their various duty stations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Pat also changed her career from the medical field to education and became a kindergarten teacher. During summers, Pat worked in Christian camps as a counselor and a Bible teacher. After they retired from the Navy, they lived in Wheaton, Illinois where Pat led the missionary support group, Workers Together, for over a decade. They then retired to Keystone Heights, Florida and Maggie Valley, North Carolina. She remained active in supporting missionaries and taught Bible classes until well after failing eyesight and memory issues made that no longer possible. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 61 years, Albert, and her siblings, Thomas Robert Colgan of Cullowhee, Charles David Colgan of Cullowhee, Florence Madsen of Maggie Valley and Ruth Paul of Pumpkintown. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Otto and Donald Selzer of Cullowhee, and numerous much beloved nephews, nieces and their families. A special thanks goes out to the staff and residents of Arrowhead Cove and Silver Bluff for their compassionate care and friendship during the nine years of Pat's residence in the complex. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 4 in the Waynesville Christian Fellowship Church, 115 Dellwood Road, Waynesville, NC 28786. Clayton Davis will officiate. A committal service will be in Green Hill Cemetery conducted by Reverend Michael Otto. The family will receive friends from 10:00 until 11:00 a.m. prior to the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials in honor of her many years of teaching may be made to the Region A Partnership for Children, which serves pre-school children and their families in the seven western counties of North Carolina, 116 Jackson Street, Sylva, NC 28779 or to Gideon International – Haywood West Camp, P.O. Box 634, Waynesville, NC 28786.

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