Marie Moore

Marie Moore was born in 1929 to Joseph W. Kochevar and Angelina Kamby Kochevar in what was essentially a refurbished miner’s cabin at the base of California Gulch in Leadville, CO. Marie remained in that small, but comfortable home, until she graduated from Lake County High School with the class of 1947. It was shortly thereafter that Marie met her husband to be, John Alfred Moore.

As told by Marie, the story is a romantic one. Marie was working as a waitress and fry cook at a local soda fountain and diner. John, who had recently returned from a four-year-long tour of active duty in the Army during the Second World War, would come into the diner in late evening, grab a broom, sweep up the floor and help Marie close the soda shop for the day. Then, like the consummate gentleman that he was, he would always make certain that Marie had safe passage home, through a gauntlet of rather bawdy establishments of the day. That pattern persisted for quite some time, until Marie and John finally married in St. Joseph Catholic Church in the late Fall of 1947.

Marie was blessed with a daughter, Kathleen Louise (Phil) Jensen, and a son, John Allen. Kathleen blessed Marie with her first grandchild, Sterling Phillip Jensen II. Subsequently son John gave Marie two more grandsons, John and Joshua (Lauren) Moore. Then just 18 months before her passing, Marie was thrilled to welcome her great granddaughter and namesake, Madden Marie Moore. Madden Marie became the absolute darling of Marie’s life.

Marie’s extensive working career began as a retail store clerk at both Robert’s Variety and Cass’s Bookstore and Office Supply on Leadville’s “main street.” Marie then accepted a position as Deputy Clerk at the Office of the Lake County Clerk and Recorder where, due to her excellent short-hand skills and personable demeanor, she became the Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners, a position that she held until family health concerns forced her departure from her beloved Leadville. Marie and John also successfully owned and operated Matchless Liquors in Leadville, and The Oak Grove Country Store in Montrose, C0, until her retirement in 1988.

Among Marie’s many joyful activities were homemaking, her room-mother duties at St. Mary’s School when her children were in attendance, the refurbishing and restoration of her beautiful Victorian Leadville home, her considerable flower gardening, and her talented crochet artistry.

In addition to her son and daughter, grandsons and great granddaughter, Marie is survived by her half-sister, Judith (Poderzay) Fabian, nephews Stanley Alan (Janet) and Christopher (Alice) Thielke and their father Stan Thielke Sr., grandnieces Veronica and Danica Thielke and grandnephew Shawn Thielke. She is preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, John, and her brother Adolph “Sonny” Kochevar, and sister Ann Jean (Stan Sr.) Thielke.