Marilyn Rae Colter, 78, of Fort Collins, Colo., died peacefully on September 20, 2024, with her children by her side.
Marilyn was born in McNary, Ariz., on May 9, 1946 to Rheba (Carter) and Larry Colter. She grew up on ranches, and felt a profound reverence for the hard work and natural beauty of rural life. The family moved from Springerville, Ariz., to Timnath, Colo., and then Fort Collins. She also worked on the family ranch near Walden, Colo.
Marilyn married Dale Maxwell when she was 19. They had two children, Mike and Kara, and raised them in Fort Collins. In her early 30s, Marilyn went back to school to earn her bachelor’s degree in technical journalism from Colorado State University. After graduating she joined the staff at the Triangle Review newspaper, eventually becoming Managing Editor. She cared deeply about journalistic ethics, and won eight awards for her reporting. Also a creative writer, she crafted many poems, short stories and the beginning of more than one novel.
Real-life challenges led Marilyn to publish her first book, Missing Pieces: Mending the Head Injury Family — the first of its kind for family members coping with traumatic brain injury. She received the Fort Collins Mayor’s Award for Increasing Awareness of the Needs of the Disabled, and served as an expert witness in legal proceedings involving brain injury.
As a journalism instructor at CSU, she managed the university’s first desktop publishing lab and mentored students — many of whom went on to successful writing careers. The Society of Professional Journalists named her the Colorado Journalism Educator of the Year in 1993. When Marilyn moved to Red Feather Lakes, Colo., to write her great American novel, she accepted the position of Director of the Red Feather Lakes Community Library. She raised $300,000 to modernize the rural library, and received the Red Feather Lakes Outstanding Citizen award in 2005.
A gifted painter, Marilyn captured the Southwest’s beauty in her vibrant watercolors. When she bought the Mountain Crafts Gallery in Red Feather Lakes she turned it into a fine arts gallery and added the Blue Bear Café. Her store served as the community’s social hub where friends met for coffee, artists and writers taught classes, and tourists bought gifts. Her watercolor animal print series sold well with tourists, who often returned the following summer to purchase more.
In 2017, Marilyn published her first mystery novel, A Woman’s Work, a finalist in American Book Fest’s 2018 Best Book Award. A year later she suffered a stroke. Soon afterward, she moved to Trinidad, Colo., a town that had always intrigued her on her frequent road trips to Santa Fe. Marilyn made a place for herself in Trinidad’s art community, joining a local artist co-op where she sold paintings, greeting cards, and books, and made many dear friends. When her health began to decline, she moved back to Northern Colorado to be near her family and lifelong friends. Ever the artist, Marilyn found a Fort Collins gallery to show her artwork — where it still hangs today.
Marilyn was a free spirit, a dreamer, a lover of nature and beauty. She loved horses, dogs and cats, trips to Santa Fe and Taos, gardening, fresh mountain air, high desert sunlight, and good ranch stories. In addition to being a talented writer and painter, she was a loving friend, mother and grandmother.
Marilyn is preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Steven B. Colter and Larry Colter, sister-in-law Patricia E. Colter and her beloved niece Theresa (Colter) Thieleman. She is survived by her sister, Brenda Colter, and sister-in-law, Kay (Keese) Colter, her son Mike Maxwell (Dorothea Deley), daughter Kara Colter (Nathan Haakinson), and grandson Revin Haakinson, as well as many beloved nephews, great-nephews, nieces, great-nieces, and much-loved cousins and dear friends. We will all miss her tremendously.
A celebration of Marilyn’s life will be held at the Drake Centre in Fort Collins Saturday, November 2, 2024, from 1pm – 3pm. Ceremony begins at 1:15pm.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Harris/Walz campaign, or to Pathways , the hospice organization that supported Marilyn and her family at the conclusion of her amazing life.