Mary Lee Marcum

Mary Lee Switzer Marcum, 69, passed away quietly March 5, 2013, surrounded by her loving family. Her viewing will be held on Friday, March 8, 2013, from 6 to 8pm, at the Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 7577 West 80th Ave. (N.E. corner of 80th & Wadsworth Blvd.), Arvada, Colorado 80003. The Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, March 9, 2013, 11am, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Arvada Stake Center), 7080 Independence Street, Arvada, Colorado. Burial will be on Monday, March 11, 2013, at 11am, at the Arvada Cemetery, 5581 Independence Street, Arvada, Colorado. She was loved by many and leaves a great legacy for her children and grandchildren. She truly graduated this life with honors. She could never do anything half way; she always did the best she could with everything. Mary was preceded in death by her brother, Roy Evan Switzer, her mother, Mary Jane Rollo Switzer, and her father, William ""A"" Switzer. Mary is survived by her beloved husband, William ""Bill"" Edgar Marcum; sister, Linda Ruth Switzer Ellis; brother, William Arnold Switzer and his wife, Linda; children, William John Gaume and his wife Cathy, Janey Eliana Gaume White and her husband David, Charity Marinda Gaume Adams and her husband Scott; and her step-children from John Gaume: Pamela Sue Gaume Garrett and her husband, Paul, Deborah Lynn Gaume Nyborg, and her husband, Bruce, Jonnie Kit Gaume and his wife, Melody; her step-children from William Marcum: Shawnery Mathis and her husband Andy, Allene Hester and her husband Brandon, Shane Marcum, Laura Hansen and her husband Steve, Alex Marcum, Tamera Nielson and her husband Trent, Michelle Jepeson and her husband Casey, Michael Marcum and Rachel Marcum, and many wonderful grandchildren. A heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all who have done so much for Mary and her family. Your prayers have been felt. Please share your memories of Mary and condolences with her family by signing the guestbook below. ***History of Mary Lee Switzer Marcum*** Mary Lee Switzer Marcum was born on December 2, 1943 in the old Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico to William ""A"" Switzer and Mary Jane Rollo Switzer. She was named for her two grandmothers, Mary Maude Summers Greer, and Ulmer Lee (Birdie) Wood Loyd. She was always grateful her name was Mary Lee, not Ulmer Maude! Mary Lee was the second child in her family after her adopted brother, William Arnold Switzer. Her brother, Billy, was her best friend during all their growing up years, sharing friends, activities and play time, but if ever a disagreement arose her brother would happily remind her that their parents, ""chose me. They had to keep you."" They are still great friends! As she was growing up, Mary Lee's father worked building roads and working on heavy machinery so the family moved often, following road jobs around the states of New Mexico and Arizona. One year the children attended seven different schools. They learned to adjust however, and gained social skills that helped them throughout their lives. In 1949 Mary Lee's baby sister, Linda Ruth Switzer, was born. This same baby sister grew up to be not only her best friend, but her trusted confidante and close companion. The two of them, and later their children, were always a party full of laughter and fun wherever they were! Linda was a sickly baby and Mary Lee was always in trouble, so at the age of five her mother went to the school and begged them to put Mary into first grade since there was no kindergarten on the Navajo Reservation where they were living at the time. The school admitted her, and thus began a lifelong love of books and learning. She loved school! She always sat in the front row and read everything she could find. She was always an imaginative child and could lose herself in the worlds the books portrayed. When Mary Lee was 10 years old her mother realized that one of the reasons she sat on the front row was because she couldn't see! She was severely nearsighted! Obtaining glasses opened up the world even further for her, and later in life she had Lasik surgery, which seemed like magic! She saw things she had never seen with her own eyes! When Mary Lee was twelve years old her brother, Roy Evan Switzer was born and their family was complete. Mary adored Roy and taught him to read, do math, and draw during his pre-school years, as did Bill and Linda. When Mary Lee was in the 8th grade, and Billy was in high school, her mother decided it was time to stop moving with daddy and give the children stability. They moved to Tularosa, NM, and there they stayed until after Mary graduated from high school. Since she always loved school, she read every book in the school library. She was President of several school organizations, lettered in Band and Honor Society, was chosen by her town as the Rose Queen in 1961, and presided over that event. Mary Lee graduated from Tularosa High School at the age of seventeen as salutatorian, missing valedictorian by one point! She was off to conquer the world. But as so often happens, life occurred while she was making other plans. She married in 1962, and spent her first married year very ill in the hospital in Roswell, NM, barely coming out with her life. As a result, her doctors informed her that she would never bear children. Well, they were wrong. Like her mother before her, when the time was right she would receive a beautiful miracle. Life is full of interesting twists and Mary Lee was is the midst of divorcing her philandering husband when she discovered her first child was on the way. Over the following months she found a new love, and was remarried by the time William John Gaume, her own Billy, was born in Silver City, NM in 1968. Her husband, John Eugene Gaume, adopted Billy, and life rolled on. John came with three children from his previous marriage: Pamela Sue, age 12, Deborah Lynn, age 11, and Johnnie Kit, age 9. So, at the age of 25, Mary went from no hope of ever having children to being a mother of four. She was joyful! Kit came to live with John and Mary and the girls were back and forth from their mother's house. Kit had health issues so Mary got busy and obtained the help he needed, spending hours at his side, at doctor's offices, at hospitals, supporting and helping him. Together they read the Book of Mormon out loud, and when they were done, Kit could speak perfectly, and could read very well. When it was found that he had an ulcer, Mary put the whole family on his diet, insisting that all would support him in healing. They had a close mother-son relationship, and that has remained throughout the years. Two years later, in Sacramento, CA, miracle number two, baby Janey Eliana was born. Mary was so excited to call all the family and tell them she had a beautiful, blue-eyed blonde angel! Mary has always loved her and has always been so proud of her! Finally, when Mary was thirty and still in Sacramento, CA, miracle number three arrived! Beautiful, gifted, baby Charity Marinda joined the family. John always said she should have been named Joy, since she brought such joy to all around her, and she still does! Pam lived with Mary and John in California during her Junior and Senior years of high school before going to Ricks College in Idaho. Debi stayed in Las Cruces, NM with her mother where she finished high school. She too went away to school at Ricks College. Kit graduated a year early in Sacramento, CA, and then he also went away to Ricks. Those were hectic, busy, wonderful, years full of activities, school, weddings, work, fun and little adventures. Sadly, at the same time, her marriage with John was neither happy nor peaceful. John was suffering from mental illness, and by 1982 the marriage ended in bitter divorce. She loved John's family though and they were always very kind to her and the children. Mary and the younger children, Billy, Eliana, and Charity were living in Provo, Utah at the time of the divorce, so Mary went back to school at BYU, using the scholarship she had received when she graduated from high school. She was unable to finish, however, as John created so much trouble for her and the children that she ended up moving back to her mother's house in Los Lunas, NM. The following years saw a series of jobs and schooling, including work as a claims adjuster, solar salesperson and a prison guard where she was the Disciplinary Officer and a member of the SWAT team. She worked as an office manager, and Head School Secretary. She found she had a gift for organization, writing, and had wonderful people skills, which she always put to good use. She finally acquired her Associates Degree from NM State University, and was proud of that degree! She loved her children, and worked hard to be both mother and father to them all. Every year she gave herself a Father's Day present, figuring she had earned it! John remained isolated from the family, by his own choice. When Charity graduated high school, mother and daughter, as well as Linda and her two youngest daughters, moved to Ogden, Utah. Two of their girlfriends and their children went along as well, and it was Ma and Ma Kettle going to Utah! It was hard times there for a while until the sisters and their friends became established. They were happy there. Linda graduated from Weber State University and moved to Great Falls, MT. Mary's Dad passed away, and her mother had remarried. She, and her husband Darrell Vandiviere, moved to Ogden to be close to their children. Bill and his family lived in Salt Lake. It was wonderful for Mary and Charity, and they got to spend lots of time with her parents. Grandma Mary took several trips with them, and the three of them had great times together! Mary was active in her church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in many callings including being a teacher for various age groups. She served in the Stake Relief Society Presidency, Relief Society Presidency and Primary Presidency. She was the Young Women's President, and also served as the secretary, sacrament chorister and Single Adult Director for the Stake. She and her sister were active in the singles group and often traveled to conferences throughout the southwest, taking their children with them. They often performed as a group, singing and giving talks. After the move to Utah, she was very active with her singles ward and served as gospel doctrine teacher, temple preparation teacher, and other callings. She had many friends, loved her job at Green Acres Elementary, and felt good about her life. She was not interested in remarriage. She felt her life was good as it was. But as so often happens, God had other plans. She met William Edgar Marcum and to her amazement, she had found her true love! Her mother wanted her to date Bill, because she had met him when she was at the singles ward with Mary, and really liked him, but Mary was not interested! He had nine children! No one would marry him! However, much to the shock of friends and family, they were married on June 14, 1997. Mary had made a promise to the Lord that if he ever said, ""This is the One I promised you,"" she would obey. There was no question, this was The One! Whew! They had a short courtship and were then married. They have been married for over fifteen happy years. Again Mary added more children to her family. Nine of them! Shawnery, Allene, Shane, Laura, Alex, Tammy, Michelle, Michael and Rachel. She loved them all! Fifteen children, for a girl who would never have a child! She was thrilled! The happy couple had many difficult challenges in their marriage, but never between the two of them. In 2004 they moved to Denver, CO, closer to Mary's son Bill and his family. Living in the Denver area proved to be a true blessing! Mary loved her job, and both Mary and Bill served as ordinance workers in the Denver LDS Temple. They both held many callings in the church. They loved being part of a large loving family, and watching their granddaughters, Amber and Ashley, grow up. Mary and Bill often had the missionaries over for dinner, where they shared stories and teaching moments. She and Bill opened their home to them, hosting the missionaries when they needed a place to stay. She lived her testimony of Jesus Christ by serving and blessing those around her throughout her life. Charity and her family lived in Ireland for nine years, and Mary and Bill took many trips to Ireland to visit Charity. They loved it there, and made many friends. Both Mary and Bill were so grateful to have found one another. They were sealed on January 5, 2013, in the Bountiful, Utah Temple. Mary was an amazing Grandma. She adored each of her grandchildren. She loved to play, sing, hike, camp, send ""Grandma Boxes"" full of surprises, attend events, gush over photos, and generally ensure that each one knew how loved they were. Mary was very creative and loved drawing, painting, and making pottery. She shared her works of art with friends and family, and taught her grandchildren about her love of art, which was a particular talent. Her creativity also shone through her many elaborately crocheted afghans and wall hangings. Mary also took in many a wanderer. Though not officially her children, she taught them and loved them well. How thankful they each were for her influence in their lives. Mary retired at the end of 2012, from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and her contracting company, DMI, when she was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. She spent her remaining time visiting family and doing things she loved to do. Mary passed away at age 69. She left a legacy of laughter, humor, independence, strength, faith, courage and wisdom. She will be missed by those who loved her, and even those who didn't! She was larger than life, and loved with a passion. She lived life on her own terms, holding the sword of faith. Her mantra at the end was to ""Feel Your Feet,"" which reminded her to live in the moment. Every day was a gift, her faith was strong, and her joy in living complete. ***A Letter from Mary*** My dear Family and friends, Each of you has touched my life in some way; some gently, some kindly, some spectacularly, some lovingly, even some not so gently. But because of who you are, and who you were with me, and all those others who have influenced my life, I became who I was meant to be. And as I contemplated what I wanted to say as my last message to you, it came to me that what I wanted to say is that dreams do come true! My dreams were never big, they were never about wealth or success or worldly kingdoms. What I did dream of was family, love, children, closeness to the Savior, eternal blessings. As a young woman, I thought my dreams could never come true, no children, and no true love for me. How wrong I was! The Lord waits, and in his own time, and according to the plan, he gives us far better blessings than we ever imagined for ourselves! My dreams of family, of true love, of faith, even of growth (not necessarily dreaming of the trials that would bring my dreams to fruition), of courage, they all came true! I did many things in my life I wished I could erase, and I did erase them! That is what the atonement does for us! We can become clean from those things, move on, and feel confident that we are loved and watched over. The Lord and the Savior of the World are ever more patient with us than we are with ourselves! I love you, I will miss you, but I know I am going to do an important work to help my dreams continue to grow. My dreams of eternal family will still require more work from me, as your dreams will require work from you. Remember that every day is a gift! Children grow up too fast, time speeds by, and before you know it, our turn on earth is over! It is meant to be this way. We chose this plan, chose to have these bodies with all their strengths and weaknesses. We have been blessed with the gifts to make all our dreams come true. So what I want to say is, never give up your dreams. With faith, at some time, in some place, your dreams will all come true, far better than you could have ever expected for yourselves! Whatever you dream of, keep an eternal perspective. Don't limit yourself by thinking this is all there is! There is so much more to come! Hold on, stay strong, the light will come. We have the Lord's true promise and it will be fulfilled for each of us. Love each other, be kind to one another, and forgive one another. The mysteries of God are all about love, His love for us, and our love for each other. If you want to know the mysteries then love someone, serve someone, and give your heart to someone. You will know it, you will feel it. Your soul will expand, your mind will grow bright, and your dreams will come true! That is what I want to share with you today. I will love you always and eternally and we will one day sit down in heaven together, and yes, our eternal dreams will have all come true! Love, Mary