Mary was born on November 21, 1950 in San Jose, California to Norman E. Siebe and Carol F. Siebe (Wilson). She grew up in the Petaluma and Santa Rosa, California area. She became a young mother in 1969; soon becoming a responsible and loving single parent to daughter Jamie Agius. Skillfully navigating life as a single mom and college student, she graduated from California State University-Chico in 1978 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
In 1980 Mary moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. She worked as a human resource specialist for The City of Fort Collins Light & Power, Home Federal Savings and Loan and numerous night jobs to support her family. In 1991 Mary discovered herself with an empty nest and no job. In true Mary fashion, she decided to take a two month solo trip to Australia. What an adventure she had! She toured the country by bus, staying in youth hostels.
In 1992 Mary started Mary Siebe & Associates, a consulting business serving small to medium sized companies. She had an inclusive, best outcomes approach and excelled at conflict resolution and consensus building. Her business was highly successful with no advertising other than by word of mouth, reflecting the quality of her work.
After returning from Australia, during an unsettled period, Mary met the love of her life, James C Hibbard. After a steamy courtship, they were married on September 18, 1994. Their marriage was wildly successful, a reflection of their deep love and caring for each other. Never shy to show affection, they almost always held hands while walking, even into their seventies.
In 2004 Mary moved her mother Carol from California to assisted living in Fort Collins. For the next 5 years until Carol’s passing in 2009, Mary enriched her mother’s life by making her part of her everyday life. They went out to lunch, ran errands, partied with friends, played cards, and went to Rockies baseball games. Mary was an amazing caring daughter.
After her mother passed, Mary began volunteering with Spellbinders Oral Storytellers of Larimer County. Thousands of elementary school children knew her as Grandma Mary. It was not uncommon to see children pointing at Mary in the grocery store whispering to their parents “that’s Grandma Mary.” Not only did she become an exceptional oral storyteller in the public school system, she utilized her leadership and training skills to help revamp and modernize their training program. She trained dozens of new storytellers and also trained new trainers. She was very active up until the time she was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. She left a lasting positive impact on the organization.
Mary loved road trips and often said she descended from a long line of drivers. As she drove across the country with Jim visiting family in California and Illinois, Mary loved to stop off the beaten path at National Monuments and Historical Places.
Mary loved to play cards and games with friends and family, especially Yahtzee, Pinochle and dominoes. She also had an extensive vocabulary, enjoying crossword puzzles and word games of all types.
Mary loved spending time in the mountains and had a lifelong spiritual connection with nature. Her beliefs formed at an early age in a family that hunted and respected the outdoors. She owned a horse as a teenager, backpacked as a young adult, camped and hiked in the mountains whenever she could. When Mary needed to connect with her higher power, she would head to the hills. She shared her spiritual love of nature with her daughters and grandchildren who carry on her beliefs.
Mary was courageous and upbeat during her four year struggle with cancer. She took multiple surgeries, several rounds of radiation treatments and innumerable chemotherapy sessions in stride. She loved her medical providers and often referred to them as her “dream team.” The admiration was mutual as Mary’s infectious optimism and wonderful outgoing personality won their hearts.
Above all else, Mary was deeply devoted to family. She made a special effort to stay connected with her daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, siblings, and extended family in California. In addition, she became very close with Jim’s daughter Jacy and treated her as her own.
Mary is survived by her husband James C Hibbard of Timnath, CO; daughter Jamie (Agius) Smith (Dean), grandchildren Emma and Owen Smith of Lafayette, CA; step-children Jacy Hibbard and Craig Hibbard (Tracy), step grandchildren Isabela and Natalia Acosta, all of Fort Collins, CO; siblings Ron Siebe (Cynthia) of Lincoln, CA and JoAnn Siebe of Lake Oswego, OR; former husbands James L Agius Jr. and Patrick C Reed, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Norman “Tom” Siebe (Carol) of Petaluma, CA.
At Mary’s request, there will be no service. There will be, however, an awesome celebration-of-life party at a later date. Mary was passionate about reproductive freedom and health care for women. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests memorial contributions be made directly to Planned Parenthood.
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