Esther Gramm Corliss was born on September 26, 1932 on the home place north of Bethune, Colorado to Gottlieb and Lydia (Stutz) Gramm. She was the youngest of five children and has three brothers and one sister.
       Esther attended the Prairie View and Bethune Schools. After she quit school she helped on the family farm and helped other families with household work when the need arose. Just before her marriage she worked as a clerk at the Duckwall Store in Burlington, Colorado.
Mervin Corliss was born on April 7, 1929 to Sherman and Grace (Messing) Corliss at Hebron, Nebraska. He has four brothers and five sisters numbering ten children in the family. When Mervin was five years old the family moved to Colorado to the Corliss Ranch northwest of Burlington, Colorado along the Republican River. He attended the Tuttle and Kirk schools. Mervin served his during the Korean war from February 29, 1951 to December 28, 1952. He was stationed in Korea during the war. After his discharge he returned to the family farm and helped his father with the farming and cattle operation.
Mervin and Esther were both members of the Settlement 4-H Club and have served as leaders when their children were in 4-H. Mervin along with his brothers enjoyed rodeoing at home and at the county fairs. Mervin also participated in the 4-H Rodeo at the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo.
       Mervin and Esther were married at the Hope Congregational Church north of Bethune on March 7, 1954. Mervin had attended the Four Square Church at Kirk, Colorado and joined the Hope Congregational Church where Esther was a member after their marriage. They are both active members in their church. Esther and Mervin have made their home on the Corliss Ranch and are residing there presently.
       Mervin and Esther were blessed with two children, Verlin and Nadine. Verlin was born in Burlington, Colorado on August 3, 1955. He attended the Bethune school and graduated with the class of 1973. On December 14, 1984 he was married to Rhonda Davis of Thornton, Colorado. At that time she was teaching at Liberty School, Joes, Colorado. They have two children, Krista and Stephanie. They are also living on the Corliss Ranch and Verlin is working with his father in their farming and livestock operation.
       Esther drove the school bus for nine Years from 1969 thru 1978 while her children attended school. This was a very interesting experience and she drove through good and bad roads and weather.
       Nadine was born on February 15, 1958 in Burlington, Colorado and attended Bethune school and graduated with the class of 1976. She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley, Colorado in 1980, majoring in Home Economics. She spent her first three years teaching in Benkelman, Nebraska then moved to Joes, Colorado to teach at Liberty school. In July, 1987, she graduated with her Masters Degree in counseling and guidance from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.
       Both Verlin and Nadine were active in 4-H work receiving many honors for their projects over the years. They were also active in the youth fellowship of the Hope United Church of Christ where they are members.
       Growing up on the farm meant you had to make your own entertainment and also you helped with the work even if you were too small for the job. We thought we were really something if we could help with special jobs and, of course, there were a lot of things we could do in spite of age and size. I remember farming with horses, especially picking corn. Dad was picking corn and I was helping being the age of 12 years. The horses took off, I climbed on the wagon and got one leg in the box and the other one still out. I thought I could grab the reins and stop the horses. I finally gave up and jumped off and the horses, Barney and Hank, ran next to a bank and upset the wagon full of corn. That stopped the horses! I will never forget that event.
       Sunday afternoons usually brought company and, of course, we kids always found something to do. The great excitement that one Sunday was that dad got a new tractor. Of course we kids had to have a look. It was a new "Farmall" tractor and he had it parked in the garage. We, Esther and Gladys Gramm, were sitting on the rubber tires. (Our dads were playing horseshoes.) Raymond was pretending to drive and Richard Gramm was going to try and see if he could start it. He cranked it and it started! Off it went, pushing the wall out of the garage and did stop, somehow, before anyone got hurt. My how thankful we all were that no one was hurt, not even the new tractor!