Elizabeth 'Liz' Elena (Yaselli) Couts, 82
Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 1 hour, 39 minutes AGO
Elizabeth "Liz" Elena (Yaselli) Couts, 82, died in home hospice in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on Oct. 2, 2026, due to cancer.
Liz, as she liked to be called, was born in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, in 1943. She came to the United States for a short time to study English at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1971, and she and her mother moved to this country in 1974. While studying at American University in Washington, D.C., she met her future husband, Gil. She was working as a temporary administrative assistant in the department where he taught, and when she saw him for the first time, she told a co-worker, “That’s the man I’m going to marry!”
Liz had always loved the United States, even while growing up in Venezuela, and she was thrilled to become an American citizen. She became so proficient in English that she was able to serve as a translator at the State Department.
While vacationing in Montana in 1994, she fell in love with the state. She and Gil would go back each year for their summer vacation, and she spent the next ten years marking each day off her calendar toward her retirement date. When they retired in 2004, they moved to Bigfork, where they spent 17 wonderful years of their happy 50-year marriage and made many friends. But in 2021, growing older and missing their beloved son and family, they made a decision to return to Maryland.
Liz had a winning smile, an easy laugh, and boundless generosity. While she was a private person at heart, many people loved her. She was very religious and spent time every day in meditation and prayer.
One day, in the Kalispell Public Library, Liz spotted a book about the Amish. She became very interested in, and deeply moved by, Amish spirituality and culture. She and Gil made many good friends in the Amish community, and she felt that the Amish had profoundly changed her life for the better. She often said she wished she had been born Amish.
She is survived by Gil; their son Brian; their daughter-in-law Kelly; and their grandson Dylan, 17.
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to 122 Kendrick Place, Apt. 12, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20878, or posted on the website of Going Home Cremation and Funeral Care. Please do not send flowers.