Marian Eberle Reeves

Marian E Reeves, a mother, grandmother, and teacher, died Monday, April 3rd, 2023 at her home in Arvada, Colorado.

On May 10, 1932 Marian was born in Emporia, Kansas, a small farming town, to Ernest and Erna Eberle. Her early years were spent in Sidney and Kimball, Nebraska. Marian loved reading and writing from a young age, especially Nancy Drew mysteries. She learned to play the piano and eventually played the organ in church. She had fond memories of summers on her Grandparents farm in Kansas playing with cousins and snapping unending baskets of beans.

As a teenager, Marian moved to Sterling, Colorado, where she met her future husband, Lawrence Robert Reeves Jr (Bob). She attended CSU and majored in Home Economics, but decided Home Ec wasn’t for her so she left college to work as a stenographer before marrying Bob on August 19, 1953. They lived for a while in Denver where she continued to work. When Bob joined the Air Force they moved around the country, living in Georgia and Oregon among other states.

The two had four children together who survive their mother:

Lawrence Robert III (Ann (deceased 2010), Kathy)

Donald William

Christine Anne Ernenwein (Rick)

John Bradon (Teresa)

After the death of her husband on December 4, 1960, Marian moved her family to Greeley, Colorado and attended Colorado State College (now UNC) from 1961-1964 where she received a degree in Secondary Education. She began teaching English and Social Studies at Valley High School in 1966. Teaching and her students were truly her joy and her passion. To this day she keeps in touch with many of her former students. Even with four young children at home, she managed to find the time to return to college and obtain her Master’s Degree in Reading, setting a good example for them. Marian continued teaching until she retired in 1992.

Through a Fulbright scholarship she traveled to Pakistan for a summer of seminars abroad in the 1980s. The goal of the trip was a chance at world travel, which she loved, and the opportunity to share that experience and knowledge with her students. The fact that she broke her kneecap just before the trip did not deter her one bit! She later traveled to Russia, among other countries such as Islamabad, and to Sarajevo, Yugoslavia where she recounted with sadness how gorgeous the country had been before the Yugoslav Wars destroyed much of it, and that she was lucky to have seen the country before the war.

Marian loved animals and was never without a cat in her home. When she retired, she moved to Evergreen where she continued her lifelong passion for animal rescue and began volunteering for Evergreen Animal Protective League. Between feeding her feral cats, answering the phone and distributing pet food to the league and feral feeders, Marian kept busy and active in her retirement. Even after heart surgery she continued to feed feral cats around Denver until just a few months before her death and took the time to find other wonderful volunteers to continue caring for the colonies in her stead.

Never one to just sit, she was an accomplished knitter, knitting blankets for her children and Christmas stockings for all her grandchildren. Marian maintained her deep love of history and read the biographies of every US President from Washington to Obama in her 80s. Even up until her death, she would read the newspaper cover to cover every day. She waited all year to sit back and watch the Rockies play. Good or bad, she just loved baseball!

Marian is survived by her four Children and eight Grandchildren who knew her as Gram. David, Sarah (Josh), Elaine, Brodie, Michelle, William, Shannon and Alex, and one Great Grandchild, Jude. As well as her younger brother Kenneth Eberle (Betty) and her many cousins.

She was extremely proud that all her children and grandchildren attended college and made a point to encourage a love of sports, academics, and lifelong learning in all of them. She prided herself on attending as many sporting events and graduations as she could, even for those relatives living out of state, and never forgot to send a birthday card. She is fondly remembered as an intelligent, independent woman who loved her family, her country, the Colorado Rockies, and who made the best applesauce.

As per her wishes no services will be held. Contributions to her animal rescue, Evergreen Animal Protective League can be made at EAPL.com.