Mabel Green passed from this life on June 5, 2021 at home in Peyton, CO where she was lovingly cared for in her later years by her daughter, Debby Irving, God’s gift to our family, the soul of a servant, now rejoices in the presence of her Savior.
Mabel June Bower was born to Jessie and June Dunbar Bower in Altoona, a small community in SE Kansas. She was the eldest in a family of eight surviving children. Mabel learned early on to work hard as she cared for her siblings while her mother worked with her father in the fields on their farm in Redfield, KS. She also learned to hate sunflowers as it was her job to chop them out of the fields and, consequently, she had an aversion to seeing them even in floral arrangements or decorative patterns.
Mom started her education in a one-room school house she attended near the family farm. She had a passion for learning and excelled scholastically, skipping a lower grade in grammar school. She told of her disappointment in not being able to skip sixth grade, not because she didn’t qualify academically, but because the principal told her that she did not weigh enough to be a 7th grader. Mom so wanted to learn and to learn fast. She was an avid reader her whole life and some of her children’s earliest memories were the bi-weekly trips to the local library where the limit of books was checked out each time.
In the late 1930s, the Bower family moved to Lakin, a small SW Kansas town. A child of the Great Depression now living near the heart of the Dust Bowl, she was no stranger to hard times and heartache. She recalls decorating a tumbleweed one year for their Christmas tree and
feeling extreme sadness with the passing of her five-year-old brother Jay and the two sisters who died in infancy. She was distressed that, to her knowledge, not even one picture exists of her infant sisters.
Mabel graduated in 1944 from Lakin Rural High School and entered the US Nursing Corp program at Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, Ks. It was there that she met US Army-Air Force Corp. Dovie (Bud) McGuire, her husband of 39+ years. They were married on October 6, 1945 after the end of WWII. She served her Lord quietly alongside her husband many years as he pastored several rural churches in Kansas and eastern Colorado.
Mabel was a dedicated homemaker and the devoted mother of seven children. She took her role as a mother seriously, instilling habits (and the fear of God and Mom) that made our lives easier. She served her family sacrificially and her hands were never still. Lights out for the children meant the beginning of her creative work. She was an accomplished seamstress, a woman of many talents, and always had a project in the making. No holiday was overlooked. The house was decorated and the day resplendent with her culinary creations. It was an opportunity to spin some magic and create memories to treasure.
As the years passed, we delighted in her quick wit. She enjoyed a good puzzle and was a formidable opponent in the games she loved to play with her children and grandchildren. She loved to play...and to win.
In August of 1989, Mom married long-time family friend Robert C. Green, her husband for 22+ years until his passing in February of 2012.
Mabel is survived by two brothers Perry (Helen) Bower of Fort Scott, KS. and Chet (Linda) Bower of Fort Scott, KS; one sister Roberta Rickman of Girard, KS; her seven children: Larry (Virginia) McGuire of Elkhart, IN; Judy (Pate) Tatum of Nederland, TX; Debby (Dan) Irving of Peyton, CO; Lois (Mark) Anderson of Bend, OR; Nancy (Jim) Amick of Meeker, CO; Tim (Denise) McGuire of College Station, TX; and Becky (Charles) House of Colorado Springs, CO.; four stepsons: Mark (Kim) Green of Colorado Springs, CO; Dan (Lisa) Green of Centennial, CO; Audie (Marcia) Green of Allen, TX; and Jeff (Linda) Green of Colorado Springs, CO.; 25 grandchildren & step-grandchildren; and 50 great grandchildren.
A viewing with the family is scheduled at Swan-Law Mortuary from 4-7pm on Monday, June 21st. A reception for family and friends will be held at 10:00am at Mesa Hills Bible Church on Tuesday, June 22nd, followed by a memorial service at 11:00am with Pastor Jim Wince officiating. Graveside services will be held at 1:00pm at Pikes Peak National Cemetery, Mark Irving officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to Mabel’s home church, Mesa Hills Bible Church (615 W. Uintah, Colorado Springs, CO 80905) or to TransWorld Radio (PO Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512).
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