Nathan Wayne Marcy

Nathan Wayne Marcy was born on May 24, 1977, at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado. He passed away on February 23, 2021, at his home in the Sloan Lake neighborhood of Denver, due to cancer. He was surrounded by his loving family and friends during his final days.

Trying to sum up Nathan’s wonderful life, personality, achievements, and inspiration in a few words would be impossible. He was gentle, kind, sarcastic, hilarious, and earnest, all at once. His intelligence was formidable yet humble. He had a massive talent when it came to computers and music; the former was his career, and the latter was his passion. After graduating from Northglenn High School in 1995, he began playing various instruments in a long line of bands in the Denver area, including Palehorse/Palerider, The Risk, Joshua Novak Band, SpokeShaver, Killfix, and Yellow Second. In the process, he became a beloved and respected figure in the Colorado music scene. He also formed bands Riverside Drive, and Den Mother with his wife, Rachael Pollard, the love of his life. They were married on July 14, 2001, and they had two bright, beautiful daughters, Ava and Dottie.

In addition to devoting himself to his music, his work, and his family, Nathan enjoyed so many things. He loved cooking and baking; fixing musical equipment; getting backrubs; watching Marvel superhero movies; reading; telling stories; learning about history; teasing his loved ones and making them laugh. Nathan was one of the funniest people you could have ever met, with a quick, dry wit that never left him. His sense of humor was matched only by his compassion for others, his sense of justice, his generous heart, and his boundless creativity.

Nathan is survived by his wife, Rachael Marcy; his daughters, Ava Marcy and Dottie Marcy; his mother, Billee Riggs; his cousin, Kim Christensen; his grandparents, Dick and Ethel Marcy; his aunt Kathy Ziebarth and uncle, Kirk Marcy; his father, Keith Marcy; and his aunts Laureli Blythe and Cheri Hager. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Dorothy Cochran and Frank Cochran; his grandfather, Don Trusty; his uncle, Tim Trusty; and his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Pollard.

A month before he passed away, knowing his time was short, Nathan wrote a short story called The Little Clay Flower Pot. It says so much about who he was. His friend Nathan Jamiel hoped it would be read by those who were close to him, so here it is.

*****

The Little Clay Flower Pot

By Nathan Marcy

Once upon a time there was a little clay pot. And inside the little clay pot lived a small, purple flower. The little clay pot wasn’t a perfect vessel, but it was a good one nonetheless. It had some small cracks that sometimes leaked. It had long since lost the small plate that sat underneath. The pot did its very best to take care of its flower and to be the very best home that it could.

One day, very unexpectedly, a single, purple petal fell off the flower. Undeterred and unfazed, the pot carried on. Some days later, one of the pot’s small cracks that sometimes leaked, quietly and unnoticed, got a very little bit bigger. It did this every so often until one day the little clay flower pot couldn’t help but notice something. Much of what should have been on its insides was now very suddenly on the outside.

At first the little clay flower pot tried to fix himself with glue. But eventually the glue no longer helped. Then the little clay flower pot tried tape. But again, the little clay flower pot eventually found that the tape wasn’t working any more either.

The little clay flower pot thought and thought and thought and thought, all the while trying very hard to keep the little purple flower alive and thriving. Maybe more clay would help? Maybe a different kind of clay? Or maybe mud?! It tried all sorts of different things, to no avail. Then one day the little clay flower pot realized that it wasn’t the pot that actually mattered. It was the flower. When the little clay flower pot realized this, it felt very overcome with a sense of dedication and purpose. It knew what it had to do. And with that knowledge, it quietly and very happily fell apart the rest of the way.

Once upon a time someone noticed a little purple flower sitting in a pile of dirt, surrounded by some small, short, shabby, misshapen, little clay fragments. The flower was now starting to wilt. And with that, they gently scooped up the little purple flower and took it to a small, dappled glade and planted it at the base of a very tall tree. And the flower was very, very happy and thrived.

The end.

*****

A celebration of Nathan’s life will be held on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. at Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary and Cemetary, 7777 West 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Serving as pallbearers are Nathan Jamiel (Honorary), Brandon Richier (Honorary), David Atkinson (Honorary), Jason Pollard (Honorary), Chris Beaty (Honorary), and Craig Beaty (Honorary). Donations in Nathan Wayne Marcy’s memory can be made to Girls Rock Denver.