Arleen Marie (Garnhart) DeGree passed away on May 21 at the age of 85. She was born on April 6, 1940, to Anna S. and Stoddard L. Garnhart of Pueblo. Her memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on June 23 at Lange Hall in Westcliffe. Internment will follow at the Assumption Cemetery following the service. All are welÂcome to attend.
In childhood, Arleen was nickÂnamed âMickeyâ by her beloved grandmother. The name stuck, and she became Mickey, Mick, or Aunt Mickey to many.
She teased that she didnât get her âDeGreeâ until she was twenty-seven years old when she met Robert Eugene DeGree, in Pueblo at the Silver Saddle dance hall. Robert and Arleen, also called Gene and Mickey, were married on February 3, 1968.
The newlyweds made their home on the DeGree Ranch in Westcliffe, where Mickey began living what she called âThe Best Life.â She loved the ranch, the view of the mountains from her living room window, and the aniÂmals that came with the ranch.
Her favorite animals were the cows and cats. She made a habit of befriending and naming her favorite cows. Valentine, Sweetie, and Mrs. Gonzalez were but a few of her favorÂite bovines. The only animals that she despised on the ranch were snakes and a particular leghorn rooster that took a disliking to her the first year on the ranch. She told Robert either the rooster went or she did. The rooster was gone by nightfall. Eugene, as she called Robert, wasnât a dumb man. He knew his Mick was a keeper.
As a ranch wife, Mickey became accustomed to muddy boots on her freshly mopped kitchen floor, pouring cups of coffee for many ranch visitors at all times of the day, entertaining newborn calves in the kitchen while they warmed up out of the bitter cold, feeding branding crews, and a multiÂtude of other jobs she did as a cattleÂwoman. She kept the best genealogy records for the ranch in a book she labeled âThe National Enquirer.â
She enjoyed having her Pueblo family visit the ranch. She also loved taking a much-deserved break from the ranch by heading to Las Vegas or New Mexico with Eugene and her family to spend time at the penny slot machines.
Arleen and Robert never had chilÂdren, so they willingly chose to spoil their three nieces. Denise, Jeri Lynn, and LeAnn DeGree, who lived next door. Aunt Mickey, as her nieces lovÂingly called her, could always be counted on for home perms, pierced ears, shopping for makeup, and birthÂday parties, which she held for them every year at her home. Later in life, she offered them her wisdom and love.
Mickey enjoyed driving her Oliver tractor, Ollie, in the hayfield as she raked, but she didnât like to bale despite being good at it. She never refused the many rides on Ollie that her nieces requested, making her a favorite in the hayfield.
During her years on the DeGree Ranch, Mickey, Robert, Jerome, and Carolyn DeGree worked hard to pay off all the land, the equipment, and the houses. They succeeded in doing all of those things, bringing Mickey great pride that all their hard work paid off. She spoke often of how proud they were to own everything free and clear.
In recognition of their hard work and longevity as ranch owners, the state of Colorado awarded them for being a Centennial Ranch. Arleen and her partners were also named Ranch Family of the Year in Westcliffe.
Mickey didnât get to spend the rest of her life with Eugene but he got to spend the rest of his life with her. In 2012, he passed away shortly after their 44th anniversary. He was the love of her life, and she never stopped missing him. She talked to him every night in bed, telling him about her day and how much she missed him. The ranch wasnât the same for her without him, so she quietly retired and moved to Florence with her cats and his dog, Fritz. She enjoyed growing peonies and watching Dr. Pol in her retireÂment. She spent her time texting her nieces, brother and loved ones as she checked on them.
She sometimes regretted leaving the ranch where she lived her best life. She missed the cows, the mountains, and her partners, Jerome and Carolyn DeGree, but the wonderful memories of the time spent with Eugene were too poignant to remain at the ranch without him.
In her last years, she bragged about being spoiled by her P.P.âs, a special name she gave Jeri Lynn and LeAnn, after a funny event at the ranch. She loved that she was dubbed the âMatriÂarchâ after she grew melancholy about being the last of the DeGree Ranch partners who was still alive. She never understood why she lived longer than they did. Her nieces knew it was because they needed her to stay and lead the family a bit longer.
Her brother, Rohn Garnhart, reconÂnected with Arleen once she retired. She took great pride in reminiscing and sharing stories with him about her best life on the ranch.
Whether one called her Arleen or Mickey, she was equally loved and will be greatly missed by them.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Eugene DeGree, her mother, Anna Garnhart, her father, StodÂdard L. Garnhart, and her partners and in-laws, Jerome and Carolyn DeGree.
Mickey is survived by her nieces Jeri Lynn (Kurt) Thornton, LeAnn D. (Stewart) King, and Denise M. (Vince) Koch and their families; her brother Rohn Garnhart; and her cousins Carol (Paul) Cochran, Denise (Dennis) Naylon, Alan (Susan) Perryman, Kurt Perryman, Andrea Williamson, and Darian (Phillip) Garbiso.
