Mary Gatlin Prager

She is survived by a son, Karl of Palisade; two daughters, Elizabeth McNeill of Glenwood Springs and Donna Wilson of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions to Hope West and Hospice, 3090B N. 12th St., Grand Junction 81502.

Mary Gatlin Prager

July 13, 1920 - December 6, 2014

Mary Gatlin Prager, 94, passed away peacefully on Saturday, December 6, 2014 at Hope West Hospice in Grand Junction, CO

Born in 1920 in Wyatt, Louisiana to Mable and H.M. Gatlin, she was a true Southern Belle: beautiful and always regal. Her fortitude was demonstrated by her survival of two types of cancer, a broken back, and outliving two husbands. She was a spiritual person who lived her life putting others first. She was a hospital volunteer, active in the Baptist church, and a graduate of Louisiana Tech with a degree in Commerce. She worked as a bookkeeper for many years.

She married Lt. Bruce K. Purcell USN in 1942. She suffered his untimely death in 1945 at the end of WW2, seven months after the birth of their daughter Elizabeth (Libby). Nine years later, she married Rev. Ray Prager and gained another daughter, Donna Prager. Three years later, their ""his, hers, and ours"" family was completed with the birth of their son Karl. She raised all her children with infinite love and by example. Her legacy lives on through her three children, six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Services were held in Glenwood Springs on Friday December 12. Contributions may be made to Hope West Hospice.

Published in The Daily Sentinel on Dec. 13, 2014