Mabel Wiley

Mabel Ahlean (Rouse) Wiley, 95, loving mother and grandmother, passed away in Centennial, Colorado, on Dec. 25, 2021. She was born June 12, 1926, in Alda, Nebraska, to George L. Rouse, Jr., and Alice Davison Rouse. She was the youngest of their seven children.

After spending her childhood on a farm and graduating valedictorian from Alda High School in 1943, Ahlean was ready to leave small-town life behind. She worked as a bookkeeper in Grand Island, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri, for several years before finding her true calling: nursing.

Ahlean successfully secured a spot in Denver University’s nursing program at Children’s Hospital, earning her registered nurse’s degree and graduating in 1953. She worked as a pediatric nurse for the next few months at Children’s Hospital in Denver, and was even offered a training position. But she turned it down to marry Hugh Samuel Wiley, MD, and begin her next adventure.

Upon graduating from the University of Colorado’s Medical School, Hugh had accepted a commission with the U.S. Army. So soon after they were married, Hugh and Ahlean were off to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Hugh would complete his residency and Ahlean would continue her pediatric nursing career.

In the next few years, Hugh and Ahlean would become the parents of five children and move from Hawaii to Colorado, to Germany, to Texas, to Virginia, and to California, before returning to Colorado in 1972 after Hugh’s retirement from the military. Ahlean spent those years focused on raising their children.

Upon returning to Colorado, Ahlean reconnected with her nursing school classmates and volunteered with the Friends of Nursing, a Denver-based nonprofit founded by one of those classmates. Ahlean also enjoyed bowling, golf, sewing, cross-stitching, crafts, and, of course, her grandchildren.

Ahlean was preceded in death by her husband, Hugh, her parents, and her siblings.

She is survived by her children: Debra Wiley Kahn (Richard) of Fort Collins, Colorado; Richard H. Wiley (Michelle) of Lone Tree, Colorado; Ronald Wiley (Isabel) of Tempe, Arizona; Cynthia Wiley, and Sandra Wiley, both of Flower Mound, Texas. All five of her children graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.

She is also survived by her eight grandchildren – Jessica J. Kahn Fosdick (Jarvis), Madelyn Wiley Boyle (Colin), Lisa Wiley Mueller (Cole), Christina Wiley Kresevic (John J), Robert Wiley (Kelly), Richard Luc Wiley, Julia Wiley, and Olivia Wiley – as well as by six great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00am Jan. 13 in the Fellowship Hall of the Holly Creek Retirement Community. Private interment will follow at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Donations can be made to the Friends of Nursing or to the Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation.

Friends of Nursing: https://www.thefon.org/donate.php

Children's Hospital Foundation: https://secure.childrenscoloradofoundation.org/site/Donation2?df_id=4543&mfc_pref=T&4543.donation=form1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=childrens%20hospital%20colorado%20foundation&utm_campaign=brand&gclid=Cj0KCQiAt8WOBhDbARIsANQLp97vLXNFsIlMd9FMshqNtnZDXYaByilubMSWLHk3r5HjEV2pTkepeVYaAkYWEALw_wcB