Grace D. Odell

In a word, “Grace.” It was her name, her way of living, her gift to all she met. Grace Doud Odell, 91, passed away Monday, August 29 at the Sunrise Senior Living Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her spirit, and her grace, live on in all who knew her.

Grace Elizabeth Muldowney was born in Dunmore, Pennsylvania on October 15, 1924 to her parents Joseph and Kathryn Muldowney. Grace and her sister Jane (“Little Me-too”) were extremely close growing up and remained so throughout their lives. After Jane’s death in 2002, Grace often talked of the day they would be reunited in heaven. Now they are.

Grace was Valedictorian of her class at Dunmore High School. A talented artist, she had plans for attending commercial art school when World War II changed her life. She went to work at the Murray Corporation, an aircraft parts manufacturer, and at 18 was a department supervisor. One of her co-workers, Joe Doud, wanted her to meet his brother Bill, who was returning home from the war in Europe.

Grace met William E. Doud, an Air Force flier, and they fell in love and were married in May 1947. Grace became a model Air Force wife and the mother of five children during their happy 17-year marriage, with stints at bases around the country before they arrived in Colorado Springs in 1960. In 1962 Bill was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she stood by his side, pouring her grace on him as he battled his illness, until his death in December of 1965. At the age of 41 she was suddenly thrust into the role of “supermom” before the term was invented—working full time at a Savings and Loan, and giving her heart and soul to nurturing her young family, making life sweet and fun, teaching them to love, and to care, and to try to bring grace to others. How she loved her family.

In 1969 Grace met Paul E. Odell, a fire protection executive for the Civil Service, and together they began a new life and a 33-year marriage. Paul and Grace spent many winters in St. Petersburg, Florida, where they would host their childrens’ families one at a time for vacations, pampering them as if they were visiting a posh resort. Paul died at age 88 in 2002, and he too had Grace, and her grace, right by his side through a slow decline leading to his final breath. Grace remained in Florida for several more years, until she moved back to Colorado Springs to be close to family. Many happy times in Florida live on in family pictures and memories, and for those of you reading this in Florida who knew Grace when she lived there, you know that her “grace” lives on there, too.

Grace’s grace was in the way she made you feel: special, important, valued. If you met her once, you left feeling happy. If you met her again, she would remember your name, and you might just start receiving birthday cards every year. Grace’s grace. It washed over you like a wave of pure love.

Grace was preceded in death, she would joke, by “just about everybody.” She is survived by her five children, Bill Doud, Jr. of Centreville, VA, Kelly Whitmore of Cook, MN, Jeff Doud of Fort Collins, CO, Sally Reed of Colorado Springs, and Terry Bajza of Colorado Springs; nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren; nephew Court Baxter, nieces Leigh Cortazzo, Susan Baxter-Preate, and Bambi Eglesia; in the Odell family, her stepsons Bruce and Shannon Odell, and many more step-grand-children and great-grandchildren. And of course, untold numbers of people who knew and loved her, and who will always remember her.

Grace--It was her name, her way of living, her gift to all she met. And now it is her legacy.

A memorial Mass will be held in Grace’s honor Saturday, September 10, at 11:00 a.m. at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 2318 N Cascade Ave, Colorado Springs, CO.

Arrangements under the direction of Memorial Gardens Cemetery & Funeral Home, Colorado Springs, Colorado.