MCCORMACK, Margaret

1/20/2010 Margaret McCormack died at her home in Buena Vista on Jan. 17, 2010. Margaret was born in Prescott, Ariz., on Feb. 22, 1925, to William Cooper and Katherine Hughes Cooper. She was the youngest of three daughters. Her sisters were Louise and Barbara. The extended Cooper family were homesteaders in the Williamson Valley of northern Arizona. Margaret was raised on a ranch in the Prescott/Chino Valley area. She developed a lifelong love of the outdoor life and animals. Riding horses and mules and camping were the times she was happiest. Margaret graduated from high school in Prescott and went to nursing school in Southern California. She obtained her registered nurse certificate and also met a young serviceman from Colorado, Howard R. (Cooter) McCormack. After he was discharged from the army, they were married in Lamar in October of 1946. They lived in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nebraska and California before returning to Colorado in 1976. They lived in the Granada area (where Cooter had been raised) until 1984, when they moved to Buena Vista to be closer to their children and grandchildren and because they both loved the mountains. Margaret was a homemaker until her children were mostly raised, and then she put her nursing degree to good use. She was a nursing home administrator in Holly, and public health nurse in Bent County. When they moved to Buena Vista, she worked for home health and hospice as a visiting nurse, a job she truly loved. Margaret and Cooter had nine children. One of the great sorrows of their life was the loss of their fifth child, Paul Steven, who died in a motorcycle accident at age 18 on Feb. 23, 1973. In addition to her son Paul, she was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Cooter, and her sister, Barbara Mohn. Margaret and Cooter's surviving children are Catherine (Gary) Phillips of Oklahoma; Barbara (Nick) Margos of Salida; Joseph (Elizabeth) of La Junta; Michael (Chris) of Hayward, Calif.; and Carol McCormack, Marilyn Propernick, Robert (Dianne); and Mary (Gary) Ludwig, all of Buena Vista. Margaret and Cooter are also survived by 31 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Margaret was a devout Catholic who found great comfort in her faith during the harder times of her life. She taught religious education classes at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church for a number of years and stayed interested in parish events even as her health declined and she became homebound. She will always be remembered as someone who loved the outdoors, camping and spending time with her family. A rosary will be said Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, at 6 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be Jan. 23, 2010, at 11 a.m., with interment following at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Both the rosary and Mass will be at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, Margaret's family requests donations to St. Rose of Lima or Catholic Relief Services, which is very active in Haiti. Chaffee County Times Buena Vista, Colorado