Mary Laverne Frost

Mary was born on March 24, 1934 to Fanchion Etta (Coverdale) and Charles Henry Bickford, eight miles northwest of Springfield, Colorado at the family farm.  The local doctor came to the house for the delivery, and Mary joined two big sisters, Neva and Mable, when she arrived.  A little sister Charlene would join the family nine years later.  She grew up experiencing a rural lifestyle, attending North Liberty country school and would frequently ride a horse a couple of miles to school through the eighth grade.  Mary learned many skills during her childhood- cooking, preserving food, and sewing.  When Mary entered high school she made the daily trip into Springfield with neighbor kids and graduated with the class of 1952 from Springfield High School.

After graduation, Mary took a job with the Baca County Extension service, where she worked until she married Donald C. Walker on February 15, 1953 Springfield.  Don was just back from Korea after serving his country and the couple moved to the Vilas area where Don was engaged in farming.  Soon the children began arriving, Charles (Charley) in 1954 and Deanna in 1955.  Looking for opportunity outside of farming, the couple moved to Colorado Springs in 1957 and bought a home.  Two more children completed their family when Melinda was born in 1957 and Faron in 1960.  Mary was working part time at Sears, and raising four children with Don while he worked shift work at Aircraft Mechanics. Mary was an active volunteer with Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Brownies, housing a garage full of Girl Scout cookies as the neighborhood cookie chairman and taking the kids on campouts.  Seven family members needing support also lived with Mary and Don at various times during the thirteen years they lived in Colorado Springs.   Family was always welcome in their home and she hosted many family gatherings and reunions for both the Bickford and Walker families throughout the years.

In 1970 the family returned to Baca County for the kids to finish growing up in a rural setting.  Mary worked three years at the Southeast Colorado Hospital in purchasing, the next twelve years at the Springfield Coop, and finished her working career by 2002 at the Plainsman Herald.  While driving from their home in Campo, her generosity was extended to folks who would often ride with her on this commute.  Along with working full time, Mary made time to help with her children’s activities, served on the Campo City Council, Campo Pool Board, Baca County Economic Development and nurtured a corner of the Campo Park that became known as “Mary’s Corner”.  She was a volunteer EMT, which found her driving the ambulance out to the field to pick up Don when he had his first heart attack.  Mary lost her husband Don after 47 years of marriage in June 2000.

Traveling was a favorite activity for Mary and she enjoyed going to Canada, Alaska, the Bahamas, Hawaii and visiting Washington, D.C. and the east coast.  She also loved reading and collecting books.  She told the kids that when Don bought a carton of cigarettes, she bought books to add to her collections-the books are still here!

Music and dancing were also activities Mary enjoyed.  She was able to spend four years as Wendall Harbert’s wife from 2002 to 2006, and they enjoyed many senior citizen events that involved music and dancing.  During this time she lived in Pritchett, Colorado.  After the death of Wendall, Mary purchased a home in Springfield and moved in 2007.

Renewing an old high school acquaintance, Mary found herself once again a married woman when she and BT Frost tied the knot in 2010.  With BT originally from Kim and enthusiastic about rodeo, Mary enjoyed traveling to the National Finals with him and reminiscing about earlier times in their lives.

Failing health directed that Mary and BT seek full-time assistance at Southeast Colorado Long Term Care in early 2017.  BT passed away shortly after entering the facility. Following a fall in December of 2018, Mary moved to Grace Living Center in Woodward, OK to be close to family. Mary celebrated her 85 ^th birthday in Woodward with family and friends, even enjoying one last dance with her grandson. Mary departed this life on July 20 ^th , surrounded by her family.

Left to mourn her passing are her 2 sons Charley (Donna) Walker of Peyton, CO, Faron (Kathe) Walker of Amarillo, TX,  2 daughters Deanna (Ron) Kenney of Argonia, KS, Melinda (Clay) McGuire of Woodward, Ok, 15 grandchildren, Becky, Chresta, Carinn, Matthew, Lucas, Caycee, Ethan, Hogan, Bill, Kenda, Erica, Heather, Erin, Josh, Jacob, 23 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.

The “Mary Frost” memorial fund has been established at TBK Bank for those who would like to express their sympathy.