Mary Alice Wilson Guenzel

Mary Alice Wilson Guenzel, 90, foundress of El Tesoro de los Angeles Retreat Center in Colorado and co-chair of Celebrity Breakfast in Fort Worth, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017.

Funeral: 1 p.m. Saturday, March 4, Mass of Christian Burial at the San Francisco Javier Chapel at El Tesoro de los Angeles Retreat Center, 232 Blossom Road in Woodland Park, Colo. Carpooling is encouraged and parking will be available at both Our Lady of the Woods and Park State Bank in Woodland Park. Visitation will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 3 at Swan-Law Funeral Home 501 North Cascade in Colorado Springs with a rosary beginning at 6 p.m.

Memorials: If desired, contributions can be made in Mary’s memory to the Nuestra Senora de la Paz Foundation in support of El Tesoro Retreat Center, PO Box 1029, Divide, CO 80814 or online at www.eltesororetreat.org.

The oldest child of John Human Wilson and Harriette Fromhart, Mary Alice was born on April 29, 1926, in Denver, Colo. She and her brother, John, spent their childhood years in Golden, Colo. The Wilson family moved to Fort Worth in 1936. Mary attended Paschal High School and later received her degree in journalism at the Texas State College for Women (now Texas Women’s University) in 1947.

While attending college, Mary met Edwin L. Guenzel through a pen pal exchange with Texas A&M. Mary and Ed were married on her graduation day in May 1947. The couple moved to A&M in College Station while Ed finished his degree. Mary worked at the Bryan Daily Eagle and handled many responsibilities including a daily radio broadcast from the newsroom.

When they returned to Fort Worth, Mary joined the advertising department at Leonard’s Department Store, wrote for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and eventually opened her own public relations firm, Mary Guenzel and Associates, where she handled publicity for a wide variety of clients including the Texas Music Educators Association, Miss Teenage America Pageant and Colonial Columns for Colonial Country Club. A keenly intelligent and versatile lady, Mary’s diverse career included roles in the hotel, communications and travel and tourism industries.

In addition to her great love for her family, Mary held two special accomplishments in great esteem: Answering the call to build a retreat center in the mountains and co-founding the Celebrity Breakfast as a project of Theta Sigma Phi (later Women in Communications). Along with co-chair, Betty Bob Buckley, and a dedicated, dynamic group of women communicators, the Celebrity Breakfast raised funds for scholarships in journalism for many decades and was a much sought-after social event in Fort Worth.

Very civically and socially active while in Fort Worth, Mary was also involved in a vast litany of organizations including Junior Woman’s Club (past president), Woman’s Club of Fort Worth, first female chieftain of the Scottish Clans of North Texas, German-American Club, Sister Cities, Council on World Affairs, Women in Communications and a member St. Andrew Catholic Church. A woman of great faith, she later became a Lady of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Overly blessed with the gift of determination, Mary answered a divine call in the second act of her life to build a place of respite to bring people a little closer to Heaven. In 1998, she returned to Colorado and began work on a 70-acre retreat center in the shadow of Pike’s Peak. She was grateful to see her dream fulfilled with the opening of El Tesoro de los Angeles (Treasure of the Angels) in Woodland Park, Colo. While in Colorado, Mary was, at various times, an active member of Our Lady of the Woods Catholic Church in Woodland Park, St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral and St. Joseph Catholic Church in Colorado Springs.

Her entrepreneurial interests while in Colorado also included purchasing The Donut Mill in Woodland Park, importing Blue Bell Ice Cream from Texas for the Ice Cream Parlor and developing her own special coffee named “Mary’s Mountain Blend.”

In addition to her family, Mary held a special affection for the many friends who supported her vision including the Board and staff of El Tesoro, Tony and Kathryn Perry, Rev. Francisco Quezada (Father Frank) and the many priests she sponsored throughout the years. Mary was preceded in death by her parents, John and Harriette Wilson; her brother and his wife, John and Mary Wilson; and her former spouse, Edwin L. Guenzel.

Survivors: Her children, Georgia Anne Guenzel (Frances), Richard Joseph Guenzel (Mary), Susan Ellen Guenzel (Paul) and Mary Elizabeth "Beth" Guenzel Park (Doug); her grandchildren, Thomas Wilson Park, Stephen Nash Park, Michael "Mike" Collins Guenzel and Joshua Phillips; three great grandchildren, sister-in-laws, Lena Lantzsch, Edna Barr and Norma Summers; and multiple nieces and nephews.