Mary Jean Gleason
1923-2008
Mary Jean Gleason wishes to be remembered as someone who loved God, her husband and family, and her life in Colorado and travels.
She was born in 1923 in Denver to Ward and Eugenie Leonard Anthony. The family home was a hub of neighborhood activity, which suited and shaped her gregarious nature.
At Holy Family High School she edited the yearbook and the school newspaper, the Lamp Post.
In 1941 she entered college at Denver University. The next summer, commuting by trolley car, she worked at Foss Drug in Golden, where she met her husband, George W. Gleason, a student at the Colorado School of Mines.
On one of their first dates, George took Mary Jean skiing at Berthoud ski area, an activity that would knit together generations of the family for decades to come.
Mary Jean continued studies at DU until George was drafted into the Navy in November 1943. A marriage was quickly arranged and the two wed at St. Dominic’s on Dec. 29, 1943.
With the onset of peace, the couple returned to Denver. They moved to Wheatridge and added to the family.
After a few ski trips to Aspen in the 1950s, the Gleasons used an inheritance in 1961 to build a small vacation home on Ute Avenue. For the next 25 winters they packed the family every other weekend and headed for the slopes. Family and friends were invited along, and the cabin in Aspen became a social hub for the family.
In 1965 the Gleasons moved to Boulder. When her youngest marched off to kindergarten, Mary Jean determined to complete her own education. She entered CU-Boulder and earned high marks and a BA in journalism in 1970. She modernized her name to Mary (and) found work.
At the Acacia Fraternity she was the first female to edit a fraternity publication and the first to be knighted into the brotherhood. She continued studies for a master’s degree in journalism, which she earned from CU in 1978. She directed public information for Colorado’s Centennial-Bicentennial commemoration, and was public relations specialist for Denver’s Regional Transportation District and the University of Colorado in Boulder. She retired from CU in 1985.
She was a 35-year member of the National Federation of Press Women and served in the 1980s on the national board and as president of the Colorado Press Women.
In 1985 the couple retired to Aspen and took up an active lifestyle of skiing, hut trips and hiking. They traveled extensively in their motorhome and to Elderhostels across the U.S. and abroad. Mary gave her talents to the CU Alumni Association, hosting sendoff parties and other events, and the Pitkin County Senior Center, developing active senior programs and public information
Mary skied until her late 70s. In 2005, the Gleasons sold their beloved home in Aspen after 45 years and moved to a Boulder retirement community.
At the Meridian retirement home she chaired the hospitality committee and led water aerobics classes.
Mary Jean died at home in the early hours of June 8 of bone cancer. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, George, and her children, Judy (Tom) Wright of Denver and Albuquerque, Jim (Karen) of Chicago and South Bend, Ind., Bob (Penelope Place) of Telluride, Nancy (Greg) Warren of Denver, Pat of Boulder, Marilyn (David Batterson) of Carbondale, and Gary (Cecilia Anthony) of Aspen; siblings Marjorie Atkinson of Salinas, Calif., Ward Anthony (Betsy Crepeau) of Boulder and Redfeather, Jack (Lois) Anthony of Denver, and Sister Antonia Anthony of Denver. She has 10 grandchildren, four (soon five) great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and numerous friends and colleagues.
She was preceded in death by her sister, Florine Scanlan of Chicago.
A memorial service in Boulder will take place at Sacred Heart of Mary church on South Boulder Road on June 26 at 11 a.m. Donations should be made in her name to the Hospice of Boulder and Broomfield County.
In Aspen, Mary Jean will be remembered for her terse, occasional letters to the editor that unerringly hit their mark. She will be remembered for her warmth and genuine interest in everyone she met, combined with her encyclopedic memory for people and the details of their lives. She will be remembered for the supple way she navigated life’s bumpy transition, always meeting life on its own terms.
Comments
Remembering Mary Gleason
I,m very sorry to hear the passing of Mrs. Gleason. I will always remember her in my heart for her smile and hugs she gave us as kids.God Bless her.
Gleason's Ute Ave property
KNCB Moore
I sold the Gleasons ( a wonderful couple ) their Ute Avenue property for $300. I had installed water and sewer mains to this lot. Later, Mary learned that I has paid $100. for the lot and she felt that I had charged too much.
In those days, most every visitor wanted to buy property in Aspen but
most of them could not afford it as cheap as it was. Another chilling effect was a lot of locals laughed at buyers who paid more than back taxes for property. Most well-off folks thought that skiing in a remote location was too risky for investment. Thankfully, the SkiCo did not go into the retail and real estate business and make Aspen a company town. This made the old time mom and pop enterprises possible. I'm out here in God's Waiting Room and glad to hear that selling their Ute lot for more than $300. helped George and Mary's retirement.
Be Brave Comrades. kncbmoore