Mary Lou (Petter) Schmunk, 90, passed peacefully on October 21, 2021. Born in Minnesota, Lou grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. Always a whiz-kid, Lou skipped two grades in elementary school and graduated from high school at seventeen. She traveled alone by train at this tender age to attend Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado where she was inducted into the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority. It was in the sorority house that she met a handsome houseboy named Oscar Schmunk, who would become her loving husband of seventy-years. Following graduation, the newlyweds spent a summer living off the grid manning a fire-tower in the wilds of Salmon, Idaho. When Oscar was hired by the Forest Service, the couple took up residence at a remote ranger station near Custer, South Dakota, and their first daughter, Susan, was born in nearby Rapid City. Os next obtained a position in the then tiny town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where a second daughter, Paula, was born. Lou flourished in Steamboat despite the long, cold, snowy winters. Always happiest outdoors, she was the first to picnic in the spring snow (We can tell you stories about brushing the snow off the picnic table!), first to dig snow tunnels in the vacant lot, first to load the neighborhood kids on the toboggan, and “let’s go outside” was her eternal rallying cry. Lou also worked as a private secretary for Portia Mansfield at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp, a job and a boss that she absolutely loved.
In the early 1960s, the Schmunks moved to LaPorte, Colorado where they resided for nearly sixty years. Lou seemed to know everyone in LaPorte, and much of Fort Collins. In addition to being an exemplary wife, mother, and homemaker, Lou also gave back to the community as a volunteer for Foothills Gateway, the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church and was a founding member of the Poudre Puppeteers, a group of local women who entertained children with puppet shows such as “Little Red Riding Hood.” Lou also liked adventures and some of her favorites included being a chase crew member for a hot-air balloon owner (and riding in the balloon!), a guided- tour of Chaco Canyon, a week-long rafting trip on the Arkansas river, and a small-ship Alaskan cruise. Closer to home, Lou could often be found walking with friends (and always with a dog) over Bingham Hill, canoeing in Horsetooth or Black Hollow Reservoirs, or enjoying a meal at Vern’s Restaurant. She and Os ran a carnation growing greenhouse business for a number of years and many of their employees became life-long friends.
Lou will be remembered for her kindness, warmth, generosity, eternal optimism, and the big smile with which she greeted everyone. She always saw the good in people, always had time to talk and listen, and she loved all creatures, great and small (although cats were a maybe and snakes were a definite no), but dogs were her favorite. Lou always had a dog near her side; a dog for each decade and then some.
Lou is survived by daughters Susan (Bruce Gibson) Deines and Paula Murray, grandchildren Megan (Jared) Stanton, Stefani Schuette, Madeleine Murray, and Maitland (Courtney) Murray and five wonderful great-grandchildren (for whom she was a grandmother par excellence), sister Jackie McFarland, brother Chuck (Rita) Petter, and sister-in-law Ruth Schmunk.! She was greatly loved by many and will be sorely missed by all. No service is planned at this time.
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