Edith M. Garrabrant

Edith Marlene Garrabrant
June 16, 1931 ~ April 9, 2024

Edith Marlene Garrabrant was born on June 16, 1931 in Salina, Kansas to Edith A. and Harold W. Johnson. She was raised in Kansas and was always proud of her Swedish heritage and home state. She loved sunflowers.

As a teenager Marlene enjoyed working summers at Green Mountain Ranch in Rocky Mountain National Park. While she was working in Denver she met Fred Garrabrant (who was in the Air Force at Lowry) and they married on November 15, 1953.

They moved to Fred’s hometown in New Jersey and lived there raising Duane and Lynn. Marlene was in personnel for the Department of the Navy. Fred was a police officer in the town they lived in, Tinton Falls. The family went on many fun camping trips in the northeast and in Colorado as well. The trips west always included a stop in Salina to see Marlene’s mother Edith and brother Stanley.

After their children finished college in Colorado, Marlene and Fred finally returned to Denver. Marlene worked in administration for the Air Force at Martin Marietta in Littleton. Eventually they moved to Estes Park. They loved the beauty and peacefulness of Estes. They enjoyed the elk and deer in their yard (but Fred had to build fences to protect the flowers and trees).

Marlene was a kind and thoughtful person who was a good friend, neighbor, and relative. She enjoyed attending the many reunions of her Swedish cousins. She enjoyed quilting, sewing, embroidery, crocheting, and knitting. She commented once she didn’t know how she had time for all that.

In their retirement Marlene and Fred traveled around the country and especially enjoyed going to Hawaii. They also enjoyed being close to their son Duane and his wife Jean and not too far from daughter Lynn, husband Peter, and granddaughter Leah in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

After Fred passed away 3 years ago, Marlene moved to Santa Fe to an assisted living facility. Lynn visited almost every day. Marlene was an excellent person, wife, and supportive mother and will be dearly missed. Rest in peace Mom.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday April 19, 2024 at Salemsborg Lutheran Church, Smolan. Burial will follow in Salemsborg Lutheran Cemetery.