Mary Helen Kanas (Baker) passed away April 29, 2020 at the Brookdale Skyline memory care facility in Colorado Springs. Mary was born May 9, 1928 to Helen Pritchett Baker and Harry Quirk Baker in Kansas City, KS. She attended and graduated from the University of Kansas with a BA in Interior Design. While at KU, she met and married John Kanas, M.D. on August 20, 1950.
Mary had a very strong and forceful personality, impressing those who met her with her dynamic intellect, managerial finesse, gourmet cooking and design skills. Mary travelled the world with John and her lifelong friends, Bill and Naomi Khulman. She was deeply interested in the conservation of wild spaces and the animals that inhabit them. Mary had a deep appreciation for Southwestern folk art, and realized a lifelong dream when she designed and built her Southwestern style home in 1998.
Upon graduation with her BA in Interior Design, John and Mary moved to Denver in 1950 where John completed his pediatric residency at Denver Childrens’ Hospital. They then moved to Colorado Springs in 1953 where John practiced pediatrics at the Colorado Springs Medical Center until his retirement. Mary was extremely active throughout her life with various civic organizations in Colorado Springs; She was one of the first women to serve in executive positions for many organizations in Colorado Springs in. including many years serving as President of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Other executive positions Mary held included board membership for the Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation, the Colorado Springs Fly Casting Club, the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado Springs Civic Theatre, First National Bank of Colorado Springs, Junior League of Colorado Springs and others. In 1967 she co-authored and drew the maps for the tour guide “Around Pikes Peak Tips, Trips and Treks” with Marshall Sprague and June Steahlin.
John preceded Mary in death on November 11, 1991. Mary is survived by her son Jon Kanas, daughter-in-law Kim Kanas, grandson Johannes “Scott” Kanas, granddaughter Emily Kanas and great grandson Damian Clough, all of Longmont.
A celebration of life will be held at the Broadmoor Community Church later in the summer, after the COVID travel and distancing restrictions have been lifted.
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