Auretta Marilyn Parker

Auretta Marilyn Parker (nee Welborn), known to family and friends as Retta, passed away peacefully on May 3, 2018, at the age of 93. Retta was born in Lebanon, Nebraska, on October 16, 1924, to Lawrence and Auretta Daffer Welborn. She spent her early years growing up on a family farm with four brothers and five sisters, who all preceded her in death. After graduating from Lebanon High School in 1942 and McCook Junior College in 1944, she worked at the McCook Air Base until the end of World War II. Retta earned a degree at the University of Nebraska in 1948, going on to teach at Plattsmouth High School. On June 26, 1949, she married, Gayle Ashton Parker, in McCook, Nebraska, who preceded her in death. She spent much of her adult life in Littleton, Colorado, where she was an active mother of active children and promoted her love of reading as an aide in the Littleton Public Schools. She was involved in Boy and Girl Scouts, supported various sports teams, loved camping and bridge with family and friends. She was especially fond of attending yearly Welborn family reunions across the country to stay abreast of all happenings with members of her large extended family.

Retta will be lovingly remembered by her five children and their spouses: Hugh (Linda), Scott (Janet), Sara (Alberto), Brian, and David (Alicia). She is also survived by brother-in-law Duane Parker and sister-in-law Mary Deardoff Parker, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and numerous nephews and nieces.

Her life will be celebrated at a memorial service at First Plymouth Congregational Church, 3501 S Colorado Blvd, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, on Thursday, June 21, 2018, at 3:00 pm. Retta will be interred alongside her husband in the Danbury-Marion, Nebraska Cemetery, following a graveside service June 25, 11:00 am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Retta’s name may be made to the Littleton Public Schools Foundation or the Willa Cather Foundation Memorial Prairie