A former city council member, mayor, longtime Bethel resident, and the last living charter member of Bethel's Robert V. Lindsay VFW Post 10041 died in May 2023.
Family and friends gathered on July 1 in Bethel's Immaculate Conception Church to celebrate the life of Donald "Sompy" Elliott.
Elliott was born on Christmas Eve in 1934 in Florence, Arizona. In 1953, Elliott enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Korea as a medic just prior to the armistice. After the war ended, he spent the remainder of his service receiving training in heavy equipment and construction, which provided the necessary occupational skills that he would later use for his Bethel Builders business.
He and his wife, Evelyn Pete of Bethel, raised six children together. Five of them attended the memorial and KYUK's Francisco Martínezcuello brings us the story of his life through their memories.
