Mary Ruth Millican

Mary Ruth Mason was born on November 25, 1929, at home in Edler, Colorado. Doctor Hamilton
delivered her, the fifth child of six kids. Her father was Ora Benjamin Mason, born in Missouri. And her
mother was born Mattie May Golden in Oklahoma. When Mary was a child, her father called her Toots,
an appellation that her family lovingly used all her life.

Mary's mother taught her children to harmonize, and they would often get around the piano to sing.
Edler had a non-denominational community church, but Mattie May wanted to attend the Church of
God in Pritchet. When the family moved to Springfield, they continued at the Church of God. Later, Mary
attended the Methodist church because of its choir and some friends.

She went to Edler School for eleven years. Edler kids had to graduate from a bigger school to receive an
accredited diploma. So Mary's parents moved to Springfield with her and her younger brother, Curtis.
Her senior year was at Springfield High School, where she completed typing and bookkeeping classes
offered through the college in Gunnison, Colorado. Julia Winegarner was the instructor. Mary went to
college in Anderson, Indiana. Homesick, she returned to Springfield after one semester, became a
telephone operator, met Frank Millican at the Corner Diner, and got married in 1950.

They lived on Frank's farm in a half-dugout south of town. They had two children while they lived there,
Andy and Marsha. Mary milked cows and sent cream to Trinidad on the milk train. They would raise
wheat or maize and then would get hailed out. Mary worked part-time as an operator until they moved
to town in 1955 when she started full-time. She continued with the phone company until the Springfield
office was phased out in 1982. She was able to take an early retirement at that time.

In 2012 Mary moved to Fort Collins to live with her daughter, Marsha, and son-in-law, David Spencer.
Mary passed away on August 7, 2023. She was 93 but not old in spirit. Mary was preceded in death by
her husband, Frank, and her son, Andy. She is survived by her daughter Marsha and son-in-law, David
Spencer, and Andy's wife, Valorie Millican. Mary's grandchildren are Stephanie & Mark Hund, Vincent &
Aubrey Millican, Gregory Spencer, Doug & Hayley Spencer, and Heath & Sara Spencer, and greatgrandchildren Marcus Hund, Eva, Emilee, and Ella Millican. Mary's siblings, except her little brother,
Curtis Mason, have passed. Mary and her five siblings' children, a total of 25 first cousins, are very close.
They loved their Aunt Toots.

Family and friends remember Mary for her welcoming home, where there was often a pot of brown
beans on the stove and a meal she could pull together out of thin air. She was always the encourager,
never judgmental. She genuinely wanted to see people blossom into the best version of themselves. She
lived her life with kindness and intention. She was born into a loving family that, regrettably, had a
competitive nature. If you ever arm wrestled or played dominoes or cards with Mary, you have
undoubtedly felt the sting of her quick wit. She maintained her sweet nature generally but tended to
feistiness during ping-pong matches. "Is that all ya got?" she'd ask? When Marsha would put her to bed
in her last years, Mary would make a fist and remind her that she could take her before telling her she
wanted breakfast ready when she woke up.
Thank you, God, for gifting her to us. She was a jewel, a treasure, and a true saint.