Mary F. Preece

Mary said that her life story began when her father, Frederick (Fritz) Woehrman arrived in the United States from Germany in 1912. He worked his way out West and ended up herding cattle at the Cary Ranch, south of Hayden, on the Twin Mesa.

Fritz took out a homestead of 320 acres on the Twin Mesa and built a house. A young woman named Ethel Eno and her sisters were riding through the country trying to raise money to build a school. At the time, there were many settlers in the area. The school was built and Ethel was the first to graduate from the 8th grade. Fritz and Ethel met and they were married on March 12, 1921. Mary was the first to be born on the homestead on December 11, 1921. Albert was born in July of 1923, Lily born in May of 1925 and Carl in June of 1925. Mary was the last to graduate from the 8th grade at the Twin Mesa School. In 1936, Fritz moved his family to Juneau, Wisconsin as he had acquired employment at a milk factory as superintendent.

Before Mary left Twin Mesa, she had a met a young man named John Preece who was sheepherding in the area. They kept in contact and when she turned 19 years old, he asked her to marry him. She rode the train back to Colorado and they were married in Rawlins, WY on October 28, 1940. Their first home was a sheep wagon on the winter range. In the summer, they lived in a tent on the summer range. The Preece Brothers purchased a farm in Jensen Utah where John and Mary moved to live. Their daughter Lona was born on March 3, 1942. Their son Alan was born January 9, 1945 and passed away on July 10, 1945. In 1946 the Preece Brothers purchased property in Colorado and the family moved to Craig. The couple welcomed a son, Cleve, on December 9, 1947.

Mary worked alongside John as they ranched and raised as many as 5,000 head of sheep. In 1974, John’s health began to decline and they headed south to see if the lower altitude would be better for him. John passed away in May of 1975.

Mary had a green thumb and spent many hours in her beautiful yard and her greenhouse. She enjoyed skiing, golfing, bowling and spending time with her family.

She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served on the Boards of the Ladies Golf Association and Bowling League. She enjoyed keeping busy and volunteered at the Northwest Colorado Health, Agriculture office and the Community Budget Center.

We will certainly miss our mother and grandmother. Her life exemplified endurance, stalwartness, patience and love. We lovingly called her “the old iron horse”.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, John, her son-in-law, John Ryan, and her three siblings. She is survived by her daughter Lona, of Mansfield, MO, son Cleve (Carol) of Craig, CO, five grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and nine great-great grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, August 1, 2024, at the Grant Mortuary Chapel. Burial will follow at Craig Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made in Mary's memory to the Yampa Valley Golf Course in care of Grant Mortuary.