Lottie Ann Ellsworth

Our beloved mother, Lottie Ann Ellsworth, passed away peacefully on Monday, October 11th, 2021 surrounded by her children. She was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho on July 8th, 1942 to Philo T. and Gene Ann Ellsworth. She was the third of four children in the family. She had two older sisters, Colleen and Kay and one younger brother, Drew.
Lottie was raised in North Ogden along with many cousins from both sides of her family. Lottie graduated from Weber High School in 1960 where she had many friends, some of which stayed in contact with her until she passed.
In her childhood, her family traveled the Western United States frequently and vacationed at iconic places such as Yellowstone (almost every year), the Columbia River Valley, New Mexico, Arizona, the Grand Canyon and others. Her mother took many pictures of their adventures.
Lottie was married to Louis Lyle Michelson from 1960 to 1966 and then to Raymond William Van Dongen from 1967 to 1985. Lottie remained single for the remainder of her life which surprised no one…haha. Lottie was a free spirit who did not like to be tethered.
She had four children, fifteen grand-children and two great grandchildren (soon to be three) who meant everything to her and who spent time with her until she passed. Lottie was a momma bear who was very protective of her children and grandchildren. Those who crossed them faced the full wrath of “Lod”.
Lottie Ann was a fun-loving person, always enjoying the company of others and had a biting sense of humor but, she could never get to the punchline of her own jokes because she was already laughing too hard. She made many friends along the way in her life journey and had an abundance of wonderful experiences and special times with family and friends.
Lottie loved being outdoors, skiing on the water and snow and just basking in the sun. She loved to read novels. She read to the very end of her life until she literally couldn’t hold up a book. She loved to cook, was a good cook herself, and came from a long line of good cooks, especially her beloved dad, Philo. She loved good food and was quite the food snob in a funny kind of way.
Lottie loved to travel (even when she couldn’t afford it ). She loved to take trips to San Diego and lived there for a short time. She vacationed in New York City on a few occasions with her siblings. She visited Europe in 1997 and had the time of her life there with her brother Drew. Among other places, she loved Lake Powell, Bear Lake and Snowbird and spent many happy times there with friends and family.
With her brother Drew, Lottie co-owned and operated Restaurant Dijon in Holladay, Utah from 1979 to 1985. She ran the front of the house and Drew ran the Kitchen as a Dijon, France- trained chef, hence the name of the restaurant. Though short-lived, the restaurant was a very popular place with uniquely awesome French food and enjoyed a loyal following of regular guests including several celebrities. It employed some family, friends and spawned legendary funny family stories. Many high schoolers liked to go to the restaurant for proms, homecomings, etc. In her later career, Lottie became a very successful property leasing manager, was highly respected in her profession and was sought after by rental property owners.
On a humorous note, she was also known by family and friends to be quite possibly the worst driver in the history of the automobile age. No one was safe when she was at the wheel, most importantly her terrified, white-knuckled passengers. Objects such as barricades, garages and manhole covers were equally endangered. Stories of her driving misadventures have surpassed the realm of simply entertaining into the stuff of legend.
For the last several years of Lottie’s life, she endured much physical pain from the effects of a fall/accident decades ago. She was cared for by her family and many others to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. We would like to thank her pain management doctors, many other physicians and nurses (too numerous to mention all) and the Truewood and Ashford Assisted Living Centers. We extend a special thanks to the loving and dedicated hospice nurses of Inspiration Hospice Services, namely Maggie, Michelle, Melissa and Trista, who provided much needed comfort and aid in her last weeks. You are angels!
Lottie is survived by her four children: Kelly (Teal) VanDongen, Pat (Jill) VanDongen, Susie (Mitch) Christofferson, Andrew (Laurie Erickson) VanDongen, her brother, Drew H. Ellsworth and all her grand and great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Philo T. and Gene Ann Ellsworth, and sisters Colleen Johnson and Kay Hunter.
Memorial Services will be held on November 3rd. at Memorial Mountain View Mortuary (3115 E. Bengal Blvd. Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121). Family and friends are invited to visit from 11 am until noon, immediately followed by a memorial service. After these services, a graveside gathering will take place at the Ben Lomond Cemetery (526 E. 2850 N. North Ogden, UT 84414) for family and close friends. Services will also be live-streamed via Zoom
Streaming Insructions:
1. Joining by computer
a. Go to zoom.us in any internet browser
b. Click “join meeting”
c. Enter the meeting id – 8015661249
d. A box will open saying “https://zoom.us wants to open this application”. Click “open zoom”
e. Click “Join with Computer Audio”
f. Click “Mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt the funeral services
2. Joining by phone or iPad
a. Download the Zoom app
b. Open the app and select “join a meeting”
c. Enter the meeting id – 8015661249
d. Select “join without video”
e. Select “Call using internet audio”
f. Select “mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt the funeral services.
Service Information

Memorial Service
November 3, 2021 at 11:00 am
3115 E 7800 S, Cottonwood Heights, Utah, 84121