Jeannie Marilyn McGrew

Jeannie Marilyn Carle McGrew, 81, of Fort Collins, Colorado, passed away on October 10, 2026, in Fort Collins.

Born on August 22, 1945, in Blackwell, Oklahoma, Jeannie was the youngest child of Guy and Bertha Carle. She graduated from Blackwell High School and went on to earn her degree from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, in 1967.

Throughout her life, Jeannie found her greatest joy and purpose in caring for others. She began her career as an elementary school teacher, but when she became a mother in 1971, she chose to make raising her children her first priority. After relocating to Loveland, Colorado, in 1980, she opened an in-home preschool, where she spent more than a decade nurturing and caring for countless children whom she loved as her own. As her children grew older and more independent, Jeannie returned to the workforce, working as a legal secretary at a law firm and later at Hewlett-Packard. She also spent several years at the CSU Alumni Center.

In 1991, Jeannie met the love of her life, Dan McGrew. They married in 1992, bringing their five children together as a family. In time, as their children married and began families of their own, Jeannie discovered a new and cherished role: Nana.

Her grandchildren were her whole world, and being Nana was one of the greatest joys of her life. She loved caring for them, cheering them on at sporting events, creating their Halloween costumes, sewing clothes for their dolls, and spending hours making crafts together. She had a special way of making each grandchild feel loved and cared for. Whenever a new grandchild was on the way, Jeannie would lovingly make a Christmas stocking to add to the growing collection that lined the family’s stairway banister. Each stocking represented another precious addition to the family she treasured so deeply. Jeannie embraced being Nana with her whole heart, and the love she poured into her grandchildren will remain a lasting part of their lives.

Jeannie is survived by her five children: Laura (Chris) McDonald, Heather Bailey, Larry (Lisa) McGrew, Jared (Megan) Stanton, and Hillary (Joel) Niebauer; and her eleven grandchildren: Travis, Trever, Hannah, Joelle, Xander, Abby, Ainsley, Rayen, Oliver, Graylon, and Colton. She is also survived by her beloved dog, Penny.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Dan McGrew; her sisters, Bobbye Glaseman and Marjorie Bruner; her brother, Lester Carle; and her parents, Guy Carle and Bertha Coffman Carle.

A funeral service will be held on October 19, 2026, at Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive Street, Fort Collins, Colorado, with burial to follow at Resthaven Memory Gardens Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to
Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research: https://lustgarten.org/?form=give

Jeannie’s life was defined by the love she gave, the children she nurtured, and the family she cherished. Above all, she will be remembered as a devoted mother, a loving Nana, and a caring soul whose greatest happiness came from making others feel loved. Her legacy lives on in the many lives she touched and in the family that will forever hold her close in their hearts.