Mary Miesler

My wife, Mary Miesler, was born in Youngstown, New York on the 21st of June 1943. She passed away on Friday, the 13th of August 2021, from natural causes. 

As a precocious baby girl, just two years old, she traveled with her mother, west to California where she was raised in the town of Hayward. While attending kindergarten, grammar school, and on into high school, she was often seen wearing a skirt with cowboy boots on those little legs. She was, in essence, a young girl with a free spirit that remained with her into adulthood. With this independent streak, she soon found herself working and living as an adult and having to navigate that responsibility.  

Much later, I met Mary at a flight school where she worked as a receptionist/secretary. Her office was adjacent to a public phone, which I needed to file a flight plan, but the phone was being used, so she offered to let me call on her desk phone. After my conversation ended, I returned the phone and she inquired about the motorcycle I rode to the airport. She casually mentioned she enjoyed riding on the back of bikes and those beautiful blue eyes signaled interest for me to ask her on a date. After my flight lesson, I stopped by Mary’s desk and asked her if she’d like to see “Space Odyssey 2001” and have dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf. She answered yes, she’d like that. My sparsely equipped, 1956 brown Ford with a stick shift on the column, did not deter her from enjoying the ride across the San Mateo bridge and on to Fisherman’s Wharf that weekend. 

Soon thereafter, the second or third date had us riding my motorcycle to Yosemite with very rudimentary gear: a couple of Army blankets, plastic tarp, can opener, and pork and beans for lightweight camping. Despite her being older than I by four years and never having had this kind of wilderness experience, she took to it like a duck to water. With my pilot’s license in hand, she soon began flying with me in an airplane we purchased. Countless adventures and misadventures in airplanes, on bikes and with nature, nature became our calling card. Mary was a willing and able partner in life. 

Vietnam was still preoccupying our National Foreign Service and Defense Department and they invited me to a paid year-long tour. Mary now had a choice to marry me and accompany me to Army flight school or remain behind for several years while I served my Nation. She chose to continue our adventure and the two of us married in Reno in 1970 on the way to Fort Wolters in Texas. She made a perfect officer’s wife in supporting me, on and off-base activities, with her beautiful smile and pleasant demeanor. 

Upon my return from Vietnam, whole in body and mind, we continued our journey through life’s ups and downs, thick and thins, with Mary, my willing co-pilot, at my side. While pursuing my career in aviation, Mary was recruited to help with financial resources, often lacking in a pilot’s early career, by taking jobs and keeping the home fires warm. While her role as homemaker remained the same, successfully administered with love and caring, she often provided the same touch to brighten up a dreary office environment, while earning an extra income for us. 

While Mary and I liked kids, and never grew up ourselves, we chose to fill our lives with the little four-legged furry creatures. Early on Mary introduced me to cat ownership and rarely did we not have two who kept each other and ourselves company. Mary briefly worked at an animal shelter and later in our years together, she was a volunteer at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo. 

Mary was the glue that kept our home humming and remembering birthdays, holidays, and other occasions kept us in good graces with relatives and friends. She went the extra mile to look after me and our pets and never overlooked the small details that made me happy to return home. Being out in the friendly skies for 3-4 days and then returning home to a warm welcome and real food, refreshed my soul, heart, and tummy. Our home is full of her spirit and kindness, and despite my sadness now, she will live within me always, looking out for us. She’ll be coming home soon and resting in a comfortable spot overlooking the mountains.

Tributes or donations can be made to the Humane Society of Fremont County, 110 Rhodes Ave, Canon City, CO 81212.  

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