Mary Magdalena Yoder

Mary M. Yoder was born on Christmas Day, 1942, to Amanda and William Chupp, Sr., in Chouteau, Oklahoma. She died peacefully on September 8, 2022, in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Mary grew up on a farm in Chouteau, OK, learning from an early age to cook and bake for her family and the farm hands. She started baking pies for a restaurant at the age of 9, and her pie baking remained one of her signature talents through her life. She was an incredible cook and loved to entertain, with countless friends and family members served around her table over the years.

Moving to La Junta in 1976 with her husband Paul and their three children, Beth, Mark, and Dave, she quickly became an active member of the community at the hospital and in Emmanuel Mennonite Church. Her nursing career started at Goshen College and spanned decades, during which she worked as a nursing instructor, volunteered time in Appalachia, spent time in the oncology clinic and education department at AVRMC, and then co-founded Edu Care to provide home health care to the Arkansas Valley. As the first certified wound and ostomy nurse in southeastern Colorado, she traveled all over providing care to people in their homes. In 2006 she won the prestigious Florence Nightingale Award for Human Caring, a fitting tribute to her career. Mary passed her love of people and service to her children, all of whom have careers in health care.

Grandchildren brought joy to Mary, and Victoria, Roman, Carlos, and Emilia were a source of great love and happiness through the last years of her life. Her living sisters, Ruby, Ann, and Peggy, and her daughters-in-law, Tara and Adriana, held a special place in her heart as well.

The last number of years were increasingly difficult for Mary health-wise, but she managed to stay in her beloved home at Casa del Sol until she finally required more care and moved to Fort Collins to be near her daughter, Beth, and son-in-law, Thomas, in March, 2022. Her friends in La Junta were her village and she talked daily about going back to La Junta, her home. Her brother Bill, sister Barbara, her parents, and beloved stepmother Ann all died in Oklahoma, her childhood home, and she has asked to be buried there, in Pryor, Oklahoma.

Mary will be remembered for her love of people, her generosity, kindness, her lifelong commitment to serving those in need, and her sweet demeanor no matter the situation. Her family will be forever grateful for the love and support she received from so many people along the way.

A Celebration of Life Open House will be held 3-6pm, Friday, September 16 at Aspen Center at Casa del Sol, 1002 Casa Del Sol, La Junta, Colorado. The Memorial Service and Interment will be held 11 am, Monday, September 19, 2022 at Zion Mennonite Church, 429 E. 450 Rd., Pryor, Oklahoma.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Mary's name can be made to Casa del Sol or Associated Charities in La Junta, or Pathways Hospice in Fort Collins.