Oralie D McAfee

Oralie Dunaway McAfee, 97, a long-term resident of Evergreen, Colorado, passed away with family by her side in Fruita, Colorado, on September 27, 2025. Oralie was born in Jones, Oklahoma, on August 28, 1928, to Frank Cecil and Ora Irene Dunaway. Preceded in death by her husband, John A. McAfee, she is survived by her 3 children: Mary (Clee Sealing), Virginia (Robert Fauver Jr.), and John (Cynthia McAfee); her 4 grandchildren: Leslie (Hassan Alamer), Brian, Andrew (Melissa Guziak), Emily (Hanah Goldov); and 2 great grandchildren: Bayaan and Halima.

Oralie attended Oklahoma A&M, earning her Bachelors of English in 1950. Oralie met John McAfee in the summer of 1948 while working at the YMCA in Estes Park. They got married in 1950. A year later, they moved back to Colorado and while raising her children in Greeley, Oralie earned her MA from Colorado State College in 1966 and her Ed.D from the University of Colorado in 1978.

Oralie was a Professor of Early Childhood Education at Metro State University in Denver from 1975 to 1989. She mentored hundreds of students who took her classes and cherished her engaging lectures. She was a popular presenter at national NAEYC conventions and Colorado early childhood conferences. Throughout her career, she was deeply concerned about how many barriers families faced in receiving early childhood education. She served on the team that created Sesame Street and led teacher trainings for Head Start, focusing always on improving access to high quality educational material for all children.

Oralie wrote prolifically about early childhood education, publishing books, professional journal articles, and newspaper columns. She co-authored a landmark book on working with parents, and in 1994, in collaboration with Deborah Leong, published Assessing and Guiding Young Children’s Development and Learning (Allyn & Bacon/Pearson), which became one of the bestselling early childhood assessment textbooks, and is now in its sixth edition. She also wrote numerous articles for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Oralie and John moved to the beautiful Evergreen Highlands in 1985. They treasured the views and community. Oralie became a weekly participant of the local hiking club, enjoying the camaraderie of friendships made on the trail. She always had a wildflower guide in her pack and anyone lucky enough to join her on the trail learned to recognize all her favorites. She and John were members of Church of the Hills Presbyterian, where Oralie continued to nurture young children by conscientiously preparing the weekly children’s sermon for years. Oralie and John frequently hosted each of their grandchildren at their special oasis in the mountains, feeding them bedtime cookies, and teaching them the important things in life: how to press flowers, how to make delicious peach butter, how to stack the firewood and build a fire. Oralie was endlessly committed to her grandchildren, making handwritten books for them and tapes of her reading and singing to send to the ones who lived out-of-state. In her final years, Oralie relished every moment with her great-granddaughters, enchanted by their joy and playfulness.

As Oralie often said, she worked hard and had a lot of fun. She will always be remembered as a gracious matriarch with a quick wit and beautiful smile, ever grateful for the mountains, her family, and the life she built. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Nature Conservancy or the Sierra Club. A memorial service is scheduled for December 13, 10:00 AM at St Andrew Presbyterian Church in Boulder.