Grace E. Stout

GRACE ELIZABETH CHAPMAN STOUT Her father, Charles Raymond Chapman (Ray), announced her birth to friends and relatives by reporting, ""Abe Lincoln is a girl."" His second child and first daughter, Grace Elizabeth Chapman, was born February 12, 1921 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was named Grace for her mother Grace Greenwood Spafford Chapman and Elizabeth for her paternal grandmother Elizabeth Towle Chapman. Grace and her siblings, Charles William (Bill), Russell Raymond (Russ) and Coralyn, were raised at 601 North Institute Street in Colorado Springs and attended Columbia Elementary, North Junior High and Colorado Springs High School (now Palmer HS). Early on, her musical talents emerged as she studied and excelled at the cello, winning prizes and accolades. Among her fondest memories were of attending summer orchestra camps in Gunnison, CO. She had always hoped to attend Interlochen Music camp in Michigan, but the Great Depression put a damper on that dream. In addition to playing the cello, she and her best friend Harriet Miller Siebold led the Colorado Springs HS marching band as drum majorettes. When the CU band declined to have female drum majors explaining, ""adverse weather conditions would be too hard on the fair sex,"" Grace was quoted in a news article, saying ""Why, once when Harriett Miller and I twirled in Colorado Springs it was so cold the batons pulled the skin off our fingers."" A Girl Scout, Grace was also active in the Terror Tribe, Girl's Service Council, Noon Patrol, Annual Staff, Social Science Club, National Band Conference, State Music Contest, Orchestra, Operetta, National Honor Society and the Great Southwestern State Band Camp. The year after her 1938 graduation from HS, Grace worked at the Broadmoor Hotel as a switchboard operator. She was there when Wendel Willkie stayed at the hotel during his campaign for the presidency, and she actually met him! At the University of Colorado, Boulder, Grace majored in business, joined the Chi Omega sorority and played in the CU Symphony. It was there that she met her future husband, J. Harold Stout (Hal), a violinist. They eloped to Cheyenne, WY and were married on February 27, 1942. When Hal entered the US Navy, she followed him to Tucson, New Orleans and Norfolk during his training before he was shipped out to the Pacific Theater of Operations. Grace returned to the family home in Colorado Springs where she acted as mentor and sponsor for many of the club activities of her younger sister Coralyn. When Hal returned from WWII, they moved to Gary, Indiana, where he worked as a mechanical engineer for US Steel and she, as a Girl Scout leader. Colorado beckoned, however, and they left Indiana to move to Denver where Hal took a job with Stearns-Rogers Corporation. They bought their first home at 1030 Leyden, where they welcomed children David and Cynthia (Cindy). Shortly thereafter they moved to southeast Denver, 3736 Nielsen Lane, where they welcomed a third child, Carol. In addition to being a homemaker and stay-at-home mom, Grace was active in her Chi Omega alumna group planning philanthropic activities, playing in various bridge groups and helping with the establishment of the Chi O chapter on the CSU campus. As her children grew up she involved herself in their lives working with Dave's Cub Scout troop, the girls' Camp Fire Girl groups and University Park Elementary PTA. In 1960 she took a part-time job as secretary for the Paul Kubler Insurance Agency where she worked until becoming a Welcome Wagon Hostess. Later, she worked full-time for Ted D. Miller Associates until her retirement in 1986. Grace continued her interest in music, playing with the Community Arts Symphony and later, the Jefferson Symphony. Volunteering was important to her and she helped out at Bethesda Psych-Health Hospital and worked with both adults and children helping them to learn the reading skills that would enrich their lives. A knitter since college, she fashioned sweaters for family and friends and knit blankets and caps for newborns at a local hospital well into her eighties when arthritis in her hands took its toll. She knitted afghans for her five grandchildren which she presented to each on a special occasion in his/her life. Recently, she had decided to try and knit blankets for newborns in conjunction with a Meridian volunteer program. Grace travelled extensively, joining Ports of Call after Hal's death in 1976. Among the countries she visited were: Canada, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, England, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and Holland. Ever the adventurer, in 1963 she drove her children (none of whom were old enough to drive) to the east coast to visit Erie, PA, Niagara Falls, Boston, Washington, DC and Williamsburg. Three years later she took them to the west coast visiting Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Carmel and Santa Monica. In the 1980s she treated her children and in-law children to a trip to Hawaii. Later she took her kids and grandkids to Disneyland and San Diego. In addition to the aforementioned hobbies, Grace was passionate about bicycling! She started riding around her southeast Denver neighborhood on an old bicycle that had belonged to Carol. For her 60th birthday, she was given a 12-speed bicycle and a helmet and she was off, leaving those who rode with her panting to keep up as she traversed the many bike paths in and around Denver. After retirement, she took several international bicycle trips, riding in Holland and along the Danube in Germany and Austria. In her 70s she upgraded to a 21-speed! She volunteered with a seniors group called Oasis, where she founded a bicycle group, organizing trips throughout Denver, riding from Idaho Springs to Georgetown, from Frisco to the top of Vail Pass, Glenwood Canyon and a wine-tasting trip to Palisades. She delighted in jaunts with her grandson David as they rode together in the mountains and on the trails in downtown Denver. A hip replacement in 2001 ended her career as a cyclist, but she continued to ride the stationary bicycles at the Meridian Retirement Community. As we drove with Grace around the city, she would look out the window and frequently remark, ""I used to ride that bike path."" In 1984, Grace moved from the family home on Nielsen Lane to 5339 South Cody Street in Littleton. There, she became involved in neighborhood activities; enjoying summer Friday mornings at the Governor's Ranch pool with a cohort of friends, participating in water aerobics, swimming and tanning and growing roses and violets that were the pride of the neighborhood. While a resident at Parkside at Governor's Ranch she founded the ""Chat and Sew"" group that continues to meet, long after she moved to the Meridian Retirement Community in 2003. As a resident at the Meridian, Grace twice served as a Floor Rep organizing parties, gatherings and welcoming new residents. She enjoyed the many new friends she met there as well as renewing friendships with those connected to her past. She was a jigsaw puzzle aficionado who loved watching Jeopardy and eating peanut M& M's while putting the pieces together and was frequently given puzzles that were too difficult for many of the residents. She did like a challenge! Hobbies, activities, accomplishments aside, the heart of Grace belonged to her family. At family reunions she and her siblings resurrected their croquet competitions (girls against boys) while the in-laws, children and cousins sat on the sideline rooting for their favorite team. For many years, she and her brothers and sister gathered yearly to celebrate their lives – past, present and future. Grace had special relationships with her in-law children, Mimi (Dave's wife) and Ed (Carol's husband) and delighted in her five grandchildren, Sara, David and Rachel Stout and Chelsea and Kashia Dyke. Her pride in them as children and as they grew into adults was without limit. She celebrated Sara's work as a Physician's Assistant and her marriage to Shawn Michael, admired David's work with a Texas state senator and his aspirations to run for political office and encouraged Rachel's training to become a nurse and her work in the ICU at Swedish Hospital. She had the utmost respect for Chelsea as a wife to Jonathan Allen and mother who is a gifted seamstress and textile artist, and delighted in Kashia as she completed her studies and moved forward working with children and in medical offices. And, if she thought her grandchildren were just the best, when her ""greats"" began to arrive, she took additional joy in being G3 – Great Grandma Grace – to Liahm and Rhea Michael (Sara), David Phillip Stout (David) and Carter and Shane Allen (Chelsea). She loved watching them progress from infants to toddlers to individuals with their own special personalities. On Friday, April 19th, Grace enjoyed her usual social hour Margarita and appetizers followed by dinner and great conversation with her Meridian friends. She returned to her apartment to watch Jeopardy and work on one of her puzzles when she fell victim to a massive stroke. In the days that followed, her family and friends enjoyed her good humor, wit and amazing memory as they visited with her. She left this world peacefully surrounded by her family on Tuesday, April 30th. We are all very saddened by her passing as we will miss her greatly, however, we are not sorry as at 92, she lived life well and will be remembered in the hearts and minds of many. Please share memories of Grace and condolences with her family by visiting the online guestbook below.