Rae Harcrow

Rae Harcrow, 88, of Littleton passed away on Thursday, December 6, 2018 at Brookdale Meridian Lakewood. She was born on April 28, 1930 in Wausau, WI, and was the daughter of William H. and Clara M. (Plummer) Anderes. Rae married Kirby J. Harcrow on August 28, 1953, and they shared 48 years of marriage. Kirby passed away March 17, 2001.

She is survived by her sons, Darryl and his wife, Judi; Kent and his wife Tammy; Greg and his wife Jodi; Brad and his wife Catherine. Rae's grandchildren include: Michael, Andi, Justin, Heather, Madison, Marissa, Kinsley, Chad, Travis, Eric, Ryan, Brianna, Ethan, Megyn; and, her great-grandchildren - Lily, Niki, Zak, Karson, Mackenzie, Landon, Everett, Lukas, Than, Halo, Raven and Zo'. Rae is also survived by her brother William ""Bill"" Anderes and his wife Martha; their two daughters, Emily and her husband Lars; Evelyn and her husband Bill and their three children, Thomas, Olivia and Eva.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, January 4, 2019 at 12:30 PM at Horan & McConaty, 3101 S. Wadsworth Blvd. Lakewood, CO followed by interment at 2:00 PM in Fort Logan National Cemetery, 3698 S. Sheridan Blvd. Denver, CO.

Rae graduated high school as valedictorian in 1948, from the Barrington Consolidated high school in Illinois. She attended Carlton College in Minnesota receiving her BA in 1952. Following college, Rae decided she wanted to live in Denver. Her mother brought both Rae and her brother Bill to Denver and rented a room in a duplex on Pennsylvania Street while Rae searched for a job. Bill was preparing to enter the ROTC Air Force camp in Texas and only stayed with them a short while.

Even as a college graduate, in 1952, jobs were difficult to obtain, and Rae enrolled in Parks Business College to learn speedwriting short hand. She obtained her first secretarial job in August that year with the Public Service Company (now Xcel Energy) earning a monthly income of $250.00. In October that year, Rae moved into a different apartment on Pennsylvania Street with two of her girlfriends. It was here, Rae met Kirby Harcrow who was one of four men living in the apartment above hers. These four men worked in the Counterintelligence Unit for the Army and dressed as civilians. During this time, these young women and men enjoyed socializing together and went dancing at the Trocadero Ballroom at Elitch Gardens and the Windsor hotel, ice skating on Evergreen lake, attending many parties, going skiing and horseback riding - it was obviously an exciting time in Rae's life.

Rae married Kirby in 1953 and their early years took them across the world during Kirby's military service. They lived in Germany and while Kirby served, Rae traveled throughout England and Italy with her mother and together they toured through Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Caprice, the Italian Riviera, Milan and St. Moritz Switzerland and eventually Paris.

When Kirby's Army service was complete in 1957, the family returned to Denver and he began his career as a manager for Woolworth Co. In 1961, the family moved for a short time to Wellington, Kansas. In June 1964, the family returned to Denver and purchased a home on West Eastman where Rae lived until 2007.

In 1971, with the four boys now very busy in school, Rae decided to return to work and she began with a part-time position at Kunsmiller Jr. High School; she eventually became a full-time Denver Public School employee later that year. In 1981, she transferred to Abraham Lincoln high school where she worked as the school registrar until her retirement in 1992 - dedicating over 21 years of service to education. This was a job she thoroughly enjoyed and in fact she returned to twice after her retirement on a part-time basis to fill in for her successor during their leave. Never one to sit idle, immediately after her retirement, she began volunteering at the Bear Valley Branch of the Denver Public Library. She was a volunteer at the library for the next 14 years.

Rae's dedication to education grew from her own mother's devotion to her occupation as a teacher. Clara Anderes was widowed at a young age and she continued to build her teaching career and maintain teaching certificates by furthering her own education, eventually earning her BA in 1944. Clara never remarried but she raised two successful children.

Rae enjoyed reading, art, history, education, nature, knitting, jigsaw puzzles, the symphony, letter writing and time with family. She was a meticulous ""record"" taker and recorded information for things of importance to her. Her lists tell us where she spent every Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday from 1981-2017 - whether she hosted the family gathering or was hosted by one of her sons. Her lists show every activity/excursion attended while living at RiverPointe beginning in 2007 on; the amount won or lost for every bridge game played at RiverPointe (most often only .25 and occasionally a windfall of $1.75); she carefully monitored her health statistics keeping detailed records of HDL, LDL, blood pressure and her weight and measurements - her doctors would be proud of her diligence to maintaining her health as best she could. Statistics seemed important to Rae - she could always tell you how many minutes each sprinkler head ran in her yard and how many therms or kilowatts were used last month compared to a year ago on her energy bills. She had a large collection of meal planning menu's and her grocery lists were carefully prepared before shopping and included the aisle number where an item could be found - she kept to her budget and did not buy unnecessary items. Her records even tell us of all the dates she had been summoned to serve for jury duty.

Rae left behind a journal of her life, carefully written over the past 12 years, to provide her family with her ancestral history - that of her mother's family migrating from England, and her father's family migrating from Germany to America. She carefully documented names with known birth/death dates, occupations, where they lived, and noting cause of death when known. It is a fascinating journey and she shares that one of her ancestors had been said to have gone with Daniel Boone when he went west, but that it had never been verified. Rae also journaled a brief history about the lives of her son's, Darryl, Kent, Greg and Brad along with their spouses - she has carefully noted names of the spouses along with those of their parents and siblings.

In remembering their mother, each son has offered their favorite ""mom"" story ...
• Darryl credits his mom for his cooking skills - recounting as a young child how he sat on the kitchen counter and watched his mother cook, asking questions and absorbing her knowledge. The skills have served him well in life both as a family man and during his career as a fireman. He still cooks today for his family and his own daughter Andi is learning from him.
• Kent recalls how hard and how long he begged his mother to get him a guitar. Finally, after a couple of years, he received it for Christmas and to this day, Kent's love of music and skill finds him still playing his guitar. He sang at his own wedding and that of two of his brother's and currently he shares his talent with the residents of Holly Creek Christian Living. Kent performed a special concert recently for his mom and the residents at RiverPointe on Nov. 24 - it was his mother's last evening there as a resident.
• Greg credits his mom for his strong work ethic - recalling only once while growing up that she was sick and took the day off; she had dad cook the weeknight meal for them. He also feels a strong influence from her minimalist life style that taught them how to be frugal to a fault. Her support and encouragement allowed him to become an Eagle Scout and he also remembers the numerous meal preparations sitting on that same counter as Darryl and the conversations while learning how to cook.
• Brad left Colorado over 36 years ago and has lived all over the country from Alaska to Florida and many places in between (including a two-year stint in Germany) but he could always count on a letter from Mom every two weeks like clockwork. Letters always started out with a short weather report from Denver, but more importantly, had those tidbits of information of her day-to-day life events, including what everyone else in the family was doing. She was always there, like a rock, caring, interested, ready to help, just what every son needs. RIP Mom, we did all right because of you and you'll always be remembered!

It is important to recognize Rae's legacy - she was fiercely dedicated to a wholesome, disciplined and conservative life. She meticulously planned for her future and that of her sons. She raised them carefully and ensured their safety as they grew up, she encouraged them in their education and saw to their well-being, she helped them all in their young adulthood and as they continued through college, first jobs, military service, beginning their careers, getting married and starting their own families. She didn't provide an extravagant life, rather she taught her family how to work hard, be independent and provided her boys with what was needed. She raised four amazing men. Rae kept track of every detail of their lives - their careers, their spouses, and the growth of their families throughout her entire life. Her humble and quiet demonstration of her love for them is evident and will live forever in our hearts.

Celebration of Life: January 4, 2019 12:30 pm

Horan & McConaty - SW Denver/Lakewood
3101 S. Wadsworth Blvd.
Lakewood, CO 80227

Interment: January 4, 2019 2:00 pm

Fort Logan National Cemetery
3698 South Sheridan Boulevard
Denver, CO 80236
(303) 761-0117
https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftlogan.asp