Tillie Antoinette Christiansen Zimmerman died peacefully in her sleep on August 5, 2020 in Elko Nevada. She was 94 years old.
A mom, a grandma and a great-grandma, Tillie was revered and loved by many.
She was born in Petaluma, California on August 29, 1925 to Hans Theodore and Sophie Christiansen.
She attended Petaluma High School where she met her husband of 57 years, Evan Albert Zimmerman.
They married on February 5, 1944. Within a few years they had 3 boys and were living in Fallon, California. Tillie and Evan wanted a larger ranch.
So on Memorial Weekend, 1950, they traveled to the Disaster Peak Ranch located on the border between Oregon and Nevada.
As Tillie rode on that 25 mile bumpy, dusty, dirt road she thought she would never want to live there, but when she saw the spectacular ranch with its lush green meadows she decided she could make it her home. In the next few years they had 2 more boys. Tillie thrived in this unforgiving, tough environment.
In 1970 having succeeded in ranching at the Disaster Peak, Tillie, Evan and their 5 boys bought the RO Ranch in Central Nevada and a few short years later, they added the Tripple T and Monitor ranches.
The Zimmerman family ranched there until 1988, when they sold the central Nevada ranches and moved back to the Disaster Peak. Tillie continued to ranch together until Evan’s death in 2012.
Tillie will long be remembered for her food, ranch work, sewing skills and love of family. She sent birthday cards filled with money to match years to her grandchildren , a tradition she continued to all 39 of her great -grandchildren.
In recent years Tillie’s busy hands created many quilts and aprons, crocheted hundreds of scrubbies, and knitted dozens of afghans, many of which she mailed to her family and friends.
Tillie is survived by her five sons Ross (Dodie), Ted (Julie), Dennis (Linda), Arnie (Kaela) and Buzz (Judy). She also leaves behind 18 grandchildren and 39 great grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Evan, her parents, two sisters Annie Burbank and Helen Hampton and one grandson, Travis Zimmerman.
