Vera Ann Pysher

A century ago on a farm outside the small town of Scipio in rolling hills of eastern Kansas, Fred and Tekla Rockers welcomed their second daughter, Vera Ann, into the world on a lovely early September day. In time, the family would swell with the addition of five younger brothers. Her childhood was marked by the challenging years of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowls. While the 5 mile walk uphill both ways to the one room schoolhouse was an exaggeration, it was only a slight one. The round trip was still a several mile trek regardless of the weather. Eventually the family relocated to the county seat of Garnett where her father managed the local farmers' coop and grain elevator, providing a comfortable home for the growing family. 

World War Two coincided with her graduation from high school. Striking out on her own, she headed out into the wider world, arriving in the bustling metropolis of Manhattan, home of Kansas State University and the Fort Riley Army base. Along with volunteering at the army base, she was one of the first women to graduate from KSU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

 With her degree she moved to Wichita where she worked for various oil firms before following her elder sister, Ethel, to Denver. A sign of the unbreakable sisterly bond that would last throughout their lives.

 Stories from that time report two loves: cruising around in her yellow convertible and Asa Pysher; a man ten years her junior. He had moved west from Pennsylvania after serving in the Korean War with hopes of becoming a ski bum, but now worked as a traveling salesman for Mountain Bell. Their abiding love would continue for the next 60 years.

 The first few years were a challenge as she left her career to raise two small kids, Lance, arrived in 1965 and Suzanne followed in 1968. Their house in Wheat Ridge had a basement that notoriously flooded after heavy thunderstorms, while Asa was on the road in rural Colorado and Wyoming selling ads for the Yellow Pages, leaving her alone with friends to pump the water out. 

 Over time the family achieved a pleasant middle class version of the American Dream, moving to a larger house in southwest Denver and a membership at the Pinehurst Country Club. This enabled Vera and Asa to embrace their growing passions in golf and tennis. Even though she was adamant that her hair never get wet, she was willing to be in the pool as long as splashing was kept at a minimum. While she never embraced the rest of the family’s love of winter, she enjoyed sitting by the fireplace while the family would ski the slopes of Steamboat during their annual ski vacation.

 During these years her sparkling smile and pleasant good nature led to weekly bridge club evenings, where despite her faculty with numbers her passion exceeded her skill. Her devotion to the family she left behind in Kansas was ever present, as was his commitment to Kansas State football, even while both of her kids went to the University of Colorado. Nearly every year the family would pack up for the long day’s travel on I-70 to visit brothers, cousins, and extended family. Inevitably there would be some soft ribbing of the time she claimed to have seen a man riding a cow on one of our previous journeys across the prairie.

 While her primary dedication was to her kids, she never fully left her career behind. She continued to manage the family finances and the books for the family business. There was a brief dabble with Mary Kay before she ventured into a new career as a substitute teacher once the kids were off to college. 

 Retirement meant a chance to travel and camp in a series of ever larger motor homes, caravanning across the country with fellow couples struck by latter day wanderlust. Once the driving became more challenging, winters were spent as Snowbirds in Arizona, until too many holidays away from her sister led them back to Denver despite the cold and snow.

 After Asa passed away in 2022, Vera auspiciously moved across the hall from her sister at the Gardens On Quail Retirement Community. The joy that emanated from the two as they spent their remaining years together was palpable. While Vera’s dementia progressed during the next two years, her essence remained with a constant smile and a love of life and its small pleasures with a delight for the occasional can of beer which she apparently kept well hidden from her kids all these years. Her beloved sister, Ethel, passed away early this spring just shy of 101, and Vera followed this December three months and a few odd days after her 100th birthday.