Margaret T. Crowder

Margaret T. Crowder of rural Kim, 89, died at the Arkansas Valley Medical Center in La Junta on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011 after a decade long illness of Alzheimer’s. She was born Oct. 31, 1921 in Trinidad, Colorado, the daughter of Adam and Bessie (Cassidy) Arnet.
She graduated from Trinidad’s Holy Trinity Catholic High School in 1942. Margaret was married to George Lascar in 1944 until his death in WW II on Oct. 26, 1944. On Sept. 3, 1947 she married Jack Crowder. They lived at Big Arroyo near Thatcher until 1954 when they moved to their ranch near the Purgatory River where they lived until the Army displaced them in 1983. In 1984 they purchased their ranch northwest of Kim.
Margaret loved sunsets, hummingbirds, and house plants. Her green thumb turned many little unwanted and struggling plants into thriving jungles of green. The bird feeders outside her kitchen window were always alive with the flutter of hummingbirds. She was active in her children’s school activities, especially the FFA, being the first woman recipient of Hoehne’s Honorary Chapter Farmer, Thatcher’s Kitchen Pal’s Club, and the Las Animas County Cowbelles. After her children graduated, she became interested in dancing and she and Jack attended as many community dances as they could.
She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Frances Wassam in 1979, brother-in law Jim Wassam in 2003, and an infant sister and brother. Margaret is survived by husband Jack, sons George and wife, Gail of Vail; Jim and wife, Debbie of La Junta; Joe and fiancé, Teresa Twite (Sidney, NE) of Amherst; daughters Peg Crowder and George Mitchell of La Junta; and Teresa Walz of La Junta; twelve grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.
Visitation will be Friday, Jan. 14 from noon to 5:00 at Peacock Memorial Chapel in La Junta. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 15 at the Kim School Gymnasium with burial to follow in the Kim Cemetery. Pallbearers will be the grandsons: Paul Shellberg, Chris Whittington, Mike Crowder, Jeff Crowder, Scott Crowder, Jesse Crowder, and Cade Walz.
Peacock-Larsen Funeral Home & Arkansas Valley Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

The family respectively asks that anyone wishing to make contributions do so in lieu of flowers to the Kim Volunteer Fire Department/EMS fund.