Margery Garey

Margery A. Garey, 96, of Arvada, Colorado, passed away peacefully July 26, 2020 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Marge was born in Rutledge, Pennsylvania to Edward and Dorothy Harrison.

Marge attended Mars Hill Junior College in North Carolina for two years during WWII and later finished her education at American University where she graduated in 1947 with a degree in English Literature. She worked at Washington National Cathedral and then at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C. where she met Robert Garey through a mutual friend. They were married in 1952 in Hastings, Nebraska where Bob was Chamber Manager for the Hastings Chamber of Commerce and a businessman. They raised three children in Hastings and spent their lives together there until, following Bob’s death in 1995, Marge moved to Arvada, Colorado in 2001 to be nearer to her two daughters.

Marge had a wide variety of interests. While living in Hastings, she was involved with Writers’ Club, Book Club, Art Club, Mother Singers, and a number of YWCA/YMCA committees. She was active in her church, First Presbyterian Church in Hastings, and later Arvada Presbyterian Church in Arvada, Colorado. She was a member of the Arvada Kiwanis Club, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Art Museum, and The Wildlife Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO. She volunteered with elementary school reading programs. She enjoyed regularly visiting local and traveling national/international art exhibits and galleries, plays and concerts, and author lectures. She took classes to further her French skills and to learn Spanish. She was an avid reader of all types of books and enjoyed writing poetry. She loved spending time with family and friends, and always had an open door for drop-in visits. She so enjoyed the neighborhood children and they in turn were drawn to her.

Marge loved life, had a great sense of humor and an adventurous spirit. She acted in a few plays in college, but found she more enjoyed the behind-the-scenes work. In 1949, she and two girlfriends traveled by ship to Europe for a six-month bike trip through multiple countries, including France, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Wales, England, Scotland, and Ireland, staying mostly in youth hostels. During their marriage, she enjoyed traveling with Bob for his work, especially several trips to Hawaii, where they were able to visit family. After Bob’s death, she traveled with Elder Hostel groups, as well as several trips with her daughters and son-in-law to Europe and Hawaii. At the age of 72, Marge and a friend biked down the side of Haleakala volcano in Hawaii, which was quite an adventure! Among her favorite trips was time she spent with her brother Don and his wife Esther on a trip to Switzerland, hiking and getting to know their Swiss friends, prior to joining her daughters and son-in-law in France. Another highlight was traveling to Ireland with a group connected with Hastings College. They were a fun-loving bunch, writing limericks as they traveled by bus around the country. She had a life-long love of art, theater, books, music, and nature. She had a gift of being able to find beauty in almost everything, whether it was the obvious grandeur of the mountains or merely simple dried grasses waving in the breeze along a highway.

Marge is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Lynn and Tim Garrelts of Littleton, CO, her daughter Ann Garey of Arvada, CO, her brother and sister-in-law Donald and Esther Harrison of Springfield, PA, her grandchildren Annaleah Garey of Eaton, OH and Cliff Garey of Jacksonville, FL, her daughter-in-law Dawn Garey of Eaton, OH, her niece Susan Harrison of Fremont, CA and her family, her nephew David Harrison of Ickenham, England and his family, as well as cousins and dear friends, all of whom she loved so much. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Fred Harrison, her husband Robert Garey, and her son Lee Garey. Marge had requested that no formal service be held, but her family plans to organize a post-pandemic celebration of her wonderful life where we can gather together in person, shares hugs and sweet memories. Until then, please feel free to share your memories of Marge on the online guest book and enjoy the visual tribute in honor of a life well-lived.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Marge's memory to The Wild Animal Sanctuary, 1946 County Road 53 Keenesburg, CO 80643.

Marge was a ray of light in this world and will be dearly missed.

And Jesus said:

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You trust in God; trust also in Me.

In my Father’s house are many rooms;

if it were not so, I would have told you.

I go there to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come back and take you to be with me

so that you may also be where I am.

You know the way to the place where I am going.

John 14: 1-4

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14: 6

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14: 27

“I’m so glad…”

Her last few words spoken as she looked into our eyes and with a smile

on her face…words exemplifying the way she lived her entire life, with

grace and gratitude, joy and contentment, just being in the moment...

We are so grateful for you, cherished family and friends, for enriching

our lives with love, laughter and wonderful memories over the years…

We are so grateful to God for blessing the world with Margery, for

giving her a full life well-lived, and for Jesus so tenderly escorting her

home to be with Him and those she loved who have gone before her…

And we are so grateful, Mom, for your life, your love, your fun, your

nurturing, your guidance, your support, your friendship. We’re so glad!

ʻŌhiʻa Lehua

by Margery Garey

ʻŌhiʻa lehua means “tree-of-bright-blossoms,”

Sacred to Pele, the goddess of fire.

It grows on the mountain, on high Mauna Loa

Where ‘i’iwi birds feed on the honey-filled flowers.

Don’t anger Pele, or she will destroy it

With rivers of lava, and hot burning flames.

There will be nothing but silence and greyness

No scarlet ‘i’iwis to sing in the trees.

But what life will be first to appear through the lava,

When Pele has gone and ashes are cold?

The ʻōhiʻa lehua, the beautiful redwood

Again sends its branches a hundred feet tall!

Sea Fever

by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.