Maria M. Merten passed away peacefully on Jan 6, 2024. She was in the care of the loving staffs at Sunrise at Flatirons in Broomfield, CO and Compassionate Hospice also of Broomfield.
Maria was born on 8 Oct, 1938, and lived with her parents in Bern, Switzerland. As a youth she went to schools in England and Spain where she became proficient in four languages. She followed her dream of always wanting to visit America while in her mid-twenties. She lived a short time in NYC, San Diego, and Santa Fe, NM. Eventually moving to Boulder, she started working in real estate, then moving on to work for IBM where she met her future husband Ron. They married in Oct of 1970 and settled in South Boulder. She then became a naturalized U.S. Citizen of which she was very proud. She adopted Ron's son John. Soon thereafter they moved to East Boulder where they welcomed their other two children, daughter Diane (Patricoff), and son Stephen.
She loved the Southwestern U.S. and enjoyed their many driving and camping trips throughout that area, taking in all of its culture.
After her children were grown, she took up brisk walking and running. She ran the Bolder Boulder 30 times, starting at age 49, and ran her last one at 80. Athletic and fit, her other activities included biking around Boulder’s many trails and working out at the East Boulder Rec Center.
She was a huge CU Buffalo football fan, where she and her husband Ron held season tickets for 5 years. She loved Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoon.
After Ron’s retirement, they traveled extensively throughout the world, including Europe, Africa, Iceland, Mexico, Central and South America, New Zealand, the Galápagos Islands, Easter Island, and a month long van camping trip through Canada and Alaska to the Arctic Circle.
She is preceded in death by her parents Harald and Eleonora Ciolina, and her brother Ricardo. She is survived by her husband Ron, her three children, her 7 grandchildren, (Rachael, Allison, Nathan, Kalei, Kahai, Alexander and Abigail), and 2 great grandchildren, (Sophia and Millie).
A viewing will be held at Greenwood and Myers Mortuary, on Friday, 12 Jan 2024 from 4pm till 7pm. Funeral service will be at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Boulder, (1318 Mapleton Ave), on Sat, Jan 13th, at 10:30am. Burial service with family will follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Meals on Wheels of Boulder. https://mowboulder.org
