Mary Greeley

Mary Greeley, 75, died February 18, 2017. She was born August 23, 1941 in Jersey City, NJ.

After an extended illness, Mary peacefully succumbed to lung cancer in the presence of her loving family.

Mary grew up in Jersey City, NJ, and on Staten Island, NY. She lived in Point Pleasant, NJ, Cheyenne, WY, and in Ft. Collins, CO. Mary attended Port Richmond High School on Staten Island, Bellevue Nursing School in NYC and served in the Women's Army Corps (WACs), where she received an honorable discharge.

Her medical career included work as a phlebotomy lab technician on Staten Island, NY, and at the Nuclear Medicine Laboratory in Ft. Collins, as well as an allergy technician and medical records staff. In addition, she was active as a substance abuse counsellor in CO. She also co-owned and managed Ted's Place in Poudre Canyon.

Mary is survived by her family: daughter, Barbara Lynn Becker of N. Dakota, mother, Stella. M. Greeley of Bellvue, CO; sisters, Lillian Greeley of Cambridge, MA and Stella M. Mason and her husband, Jack, of Sarasota, FL; her brother, Robert G. Greeley, II and his wife, Aggie, of Bellvue, CO; her special friend, David Mahan of Denver, CO; and two grandchildren, Reil Nicole Becker of OH, and Walter Becker of Boulder, CO.

Mary's zest for life touched many, especially her family and those whose lives she brushed and the many lives she helped.

Besides animal care, her interests included her beloved pets, including her devoted dog, Tigger, and her beloved Arabian horse, Princess Ariel, as well care for wild animals, including foxes, cats, squirrels, raccoons, and others, which seemed to be reciprocated.

Years ago, when Mary was hospitalized, one of her wild foxes appeared and sat on a flat roof outside her hospital room, presumably to keep vigil over Mary for days, to the astonishment of all. During her last days, her dog, Tigger, kept close watch and contact with her for days, until finally, at the time of Mary's death, he laid his head on her shoulder and continued to keep vigil over her.

Mary's other interests included crafts, especially bead, leather and metal mediums, as well as knitting, sewing and crocheting. She was also deeply committed to Alcoholics Anonymous and authored two books in the field, Alcoholism as an Allergy (1996) and Emily, I Miss You (2000).

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, at 1:00 PM at the Bohlender Funeral Chapel.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Larimer Humane Society,Fort Collins Cat Rescue, American Lung Cancer Society, or to a charity of your choice in care of Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive, Fort Collins, Colorado 80524.

REMEMBERANCES
Please leave your remembrances under "Share a Memory". Thank you.

From Lillian Greeley, Sister:
On our 16th birthday, Mary had ridden over to her boyfriend's home on his Vespa scooter from Staten Island to the upper west side of Manhattan. (His father was a professor at Columbia and he and his wife, Gene and Franchesca, wrote the song, "Those were the days, my friend."). Well, when they got to his home, his parents were having a party and Theodore Bikel (Tevye in the musical, Fiddler on the Roof) was a guest. When he found out that it was Mary's birthday, he sang Happy Birthday to her, another of her wild New York escapades, along with the time that we, about 18 years old, drove up the West Side Highway on her scooter and mistakenly got off in Harlem on a Saturday night.

A group of Mary's colleagues at Staten Island Hospital went to a cocktail party at the Pakistani embassy in NYC. We met up with another friend who organized us to have dinner together, so we all grouped down to the Four Seasons Restaurant. In our party were a Cuban doctor and a Philippino doctor, who had on traditional dress clothes, white organdy dress shirts, worn open-necked. The maître de didn't want us to come in. There was a tie shop close by so we got some ties and tried again, but he still wouldn't let us in. At that point we decided to get some Spanish food in the Village, and our organizer, who was Pervez Musharraf, later to become the President of Pakistan, and we had a good time there.

From David Rhodes, Former Nephew-in-Law (and President of the Bank of Bahrain):
When I first met Mary, she was living in a teepee. That was a first for me. The ride in the back of her van, up and down hilly winding roads, seemed a metaphor for life, particularly because the van lacked seat belts and properly functioning brakes. She wanted to make sure we saw some of the best views and had memorable experiences while we were together. And we did.

Another first was riding bareback. She insisted I ride her horse and seemed completely unfazed by my lack of experience. I quickly realized that when you are riding bareback and a horse starts to buck, there is nothing to hold onto except your fear. It would have been nice to know in advance that the horse and the llama corralled together we're having relationship issues. I never thought to ask if they were getting along or whether or not the horse was in a good mood to be ridden.