Ardis Jean Graham

Ardis Graham, 82 of Arvada, CO

Born in Fredonia, Kansas to Mary and Cleo Spencer, as a young girl Ardis and her siblings Harold, Dean, Mary Louise, Doris, and Glenda, moved with their parents to Denver, CO. In the mid 1940's two more brothers, Darwin and Jerry, came into the family.

Ardis met her future husband, Bob Graham, at the age of 14, and they married in 1946 when she was 16 years old. They purchased their home in the Golden area in 1950. With a husband that loved adventure, Ardis learned early on that their life would never be dull. She was a great partner and "usually" willing to go along with whatever ideas he came up with. In the early days it was auto racing, then came the numerous Motorcycles and Quads, the Hill Climbs in Sturgess, SD and in Utah, Trike and Roadster trips, and frequent family camping & fishing trips,

Ardie also had her own separate interests that she managed to find time for. Her love of Gardening, Sewing and Needlework was an important part of her life. She found joy in sewing for her family and often making beautiful hand crocheted items for friends also. She loved the outdoors and loved to work in her gardens every minute she could spare.

After Ardis raised her children, she began volunteering with several different charitable organizations, including Children's Hospital, The Fisher House, Channel 6, VFW Ladies Auxiliary Events, Veteran's Hospital, Woman School and various Hospice facilities. Over the years she has given these groups her time and hard work, but always felt that the friendships made were a wonderful "perk".

Ardie has so enjoyed watching her family grow. In this, her 82nd year, she is the loving Grandmother of 10, and the Great Grandmother of 9 beautiful children. She will be missed dearly by all those who knew her kindnesses, but especially by her family who felt her unconditional love.



"Thoughts From A Grandson"…
Ardis Graham was a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and with everything else, she was a gentle soul. She never wanted to be disruptive, or to impose on others, or to be pushy or demanding; in fact she struggled at times later in her life to find her voice and speak her piece without becoming these things she disliked. She was a talker, loved to converse with friends and acquaintances about anything under the sun, and could talk a blue streak for hours if she found someone to listen -- something she passed on to more than one of her descendants. She remained social, friendly, active, and very healthy for most of her life.

She kept her focus on her loved ones, family and friends, and faced the winds of difficulty and a complex new world with resilience and grace. . She endured the hardships of her life with her chin up and with a quiet strength. She nurtured her children and watched them grow, embraced nephews and nieces, and then welcomed her children's children as she took the role of grandmother. She was with her husband on the mountain when his heart failed and he collapsed. She lost him on that mountain, but she faced the next chapter of her new life earnestly and with courage, keeping busy and staying healthy and independent.

She loved to share stories -- about her childhood, her brothers and sisters, her kids, places she's lived, how she met Grandpa, and how they "eloped" to Kansas when she was 16 and got married, and much more. She became a Graham early in her life, and picked up (or maybe augmented) an ability to tease and joke with the rest of them. She loved her country, believed in hard work, and practiced simplicity and humility. She was the hub for the ever-widening wheel of her family, a central point at which we all came together, a matriarch for the many who came after her and from her.

But inside all that, beyond the silver-haired, sometimes tremulous woman with the quiet dignity, there could be seen at times the shining little girl of her youth, radiant with love and laughter, always expanding and embracing the many, many people she loved and cared for. Through her worries, her hardships, her age, and her sudden ill health, that smile as bright as the sunrise and that happy laughter always emerged again, and will continue to emerge in the hearts and minds of those of us who loved and cared for her so much in return.

When her time was drawing near to leave this life, she lay in hospice with her children beside her. She lay in quiet for a long time staring upward, then quietly and gently told her children, "You aren't going to like this." When they asked what she meant, she answered, "I see a light." Later she spoke of the hospice room being gone and in its place she saw a home, a cabin maybe, all around her. She wondered where she was. Her son told her, "Maybe it's home, Mom." Later she told her children of seeing a horse passing by, and needing to catch it, and she reached out for it while she spoke. On April 12, 2012 it seems she did.. She passed in quiet and peace in a house among flowering trees, and animals came out of the woods in the twilight as if to observe her passing. She has gone now to her well-deserved rest, taken from the water to sky. (Nathan)