January 4, 2021

Mary Louise Sprick passed away peacefully and joined her heavenly Father in early January after a brief, yet valiant battle with cancer. We were blessed with more than 90 years of her unconditional love and she will be greatly missed more than words can ever say.

Mary was born in Conway, Arkansas, to Peter and Edith Paladino in 1927. She had five brothers and grew up on a farm. She attended St. Joseph’s Catholic school and after high school attended college in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In 1957, Mary met and married Charles Sprick, and welcomed his children, Nancy, age 7, Dan, age 4, and Joe, age 3, into her life as her own and soon gave birth to three children, Mary Ann, Kathy, and Tony, making her family complete. Mary and Charlie moved to Glenwood Springs in 1959 to raise their children and establish a business.

Mary made many contributions to her community over the years, with her most defining contributions to Saint Stephen’s Catholic Church. Not long after arriving in Glenwood Springs, she approached the church’s pastor to suggest that she prepare a weekly bulletin for the parishioners. Soon she was churning out a weekly bulletin in the basement of their home. Mary was actively involved in the Altar and Rosary Society at the church for many years and was instrumental in developing the prayer chain that continues to be used by parishioners today. Mary was one of the first Eucharistic ministers at St. Stephen’s and served for over 35 years before retiring just a few years ago.

Mary was active in her children’s lives and supported their various adventures. She assisted with girl scout meetings, the Sunlight ski team, and cheered from the sidelines during team events. Family was the most important thing to her. She enjoyed hiking, biking, golf, tennis, camping, skiing, and cross country skiing. She enjoyed the quiet solitude of nature.

Mary’s children blessed her with several grandchildren and as they began to grow and develop into young adults, she found herself volunteering at Sopris Elementary School to listen to second and third graders read to her as part of a reading development program. Soon she was known throughout the school as Grandma Mary.

In addition to caring for her children, Mary was instrumental in her husband Charlie’s dental technician business, from engaging in conversation with various dentist clients to preparing the books for the business, she was a part of the team.

In retirement, Mary and Charlie enjoyed traveling across the state and the country. She was pleased that she could say she had visited all 50 states over the years.

She had a strength of character to accept life’s hardships with dignity and grace and rejoice in the many blessings life bestowed upon her. She had a relaxed nature and enjoyed celebrating the good times. She felt great happiness for the good fortunes of others. She would never say good bye to her kids without saying she loved them, which would invariably leave a tear in the eye of the lucky recipient.

Mary is survived by her husband, Charlie, her daughters, Nancy (Carter) Page, Mary Ann Hill, and Kathryn (Carlos) Zambrano and sons Dan, Joe (Pat), and Tony (Ruth). Her four grandsons, Christopher (Brianne), Adam (Michelle), David (Becky), and Daniel; six granddaughters, Nikela (Brian), Sara, Laine (Cameron), Dayna, Elena (Jason), and Kristen (Jeff); and four great grandsons and four great granddaughters along with numerous nieces and nephews.

A private service will be held January 16, 2021, at Saint Stephen’s Catholic Church, with the rosary at 12:30 PM followed by the funeral service at 1 PM. The service will be live streamed on St. Stephen’s Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the St. Stephen’s tuition fund or the St. Stephen’s building fund.