Mary Lozene Knuckles-Geisinger

It is with great sadness, we must announce the passing of Mary Lozene Geisinger, dedicated wife, loving mother and grandmother, compassionate friend, and cherished matriarch of our family. Blessed were we with 80 wonderful years of life before she was sent home to her family in Heaven on April 22, 2021.
Mary will live on in the hearts of all the lives she touched, from her family and friends to the smallest woodland creatures that she shared her home with. She is survived by her Husband, Harry Geisinger; her brother, Frankie and his wife Arvita Knuckles; her children, Thomas, and his wife Christine Green and Lyndell Green; her stepchildren, Denny and his wife Judy Geisinger as well as Debbie and her husband Danny Rosenberg; countless grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews; and she is also survived by you; her memory is kept alive by us all when we think of her. There is no way of knowing just how many hearts are shaken by her loss and we hope all of you find peace in her passing.
Born August 26th in 1941, Mary was delivered at home by a midwife named Callie Doyel, on a small family farm just north of Dove Creek, Colorado. Her mother Eva “Short” Knuckles and Doyle Knuckles were overjoyed by her addition to the family. Eva and Doyle had several children besides Mary including her sister Patty and brothers, Frankie, Ronny, and Tommy. Growing up on a small family farm was not easy, and Mary had to learn lots of lessons and skills along the way. Easily inspired by her mother’s passions, she was molded into an amazing artist with talents in cooking, gardening, sewing and cross stitch. Mary soon grew into a beautiful young woman with an intellect far advanced for her era and a spark for life. It was at this tender age she met her one-day husband Harry, but it would be a little later in life that their eternal love would blossom. Before that time would come though, Mary was taken with and courted by a boy named Denny Clark Green. After they wed, they were blessed with four wonderful boys, Thomas, Boyd, Lindell, and Clark “Tyke.” But as young love often does, it ended after only a short time and they were divorced. As destiny would have it however, several years later Mary and Harry would be reunited, married, and never leave each other’s side again.
One of the greatest honors and hardest tasks is writing the ending to someone else’s story. Putting a lifetime into words, and on a piece of paper seems impossible. Luckily for us, Mary was an artist and with the great joys and sadness she faced as she aged, her art became exquisite. George Bernard Shaw once said, “You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.” And it was, with that simple sentence we realized that she had already modeled her life into a composition so big even the neighbors could see it, we simply had to narrate it.
If you know Mary, then you know about her Garden. What surely started out as some simple landscaping, shaped over the years into an elaborate display of splendid color and grand design that was quite literally, a replica of a life so beautiful inside the home that it broke free and consumed the acre surrounding it. The best kind of love is the kind that sets you free, and with that freedom she was able to create a masterpiece that enchanted and engulfed its wanderers for years.
Of all the titles Mary had, her favorite one was mother. When the children grew up, she spent her days in the garden, tirelessly planting and filling it with life. It was with the same motherly love and care used to raise her family, that she created a paradise that attracted so much wildlife outside. Animals of all breeds and sizes scurried about her garden from the wild deer to the adopted chickens that dug up her flowers. No matter their faults or misdeeds she forgave them all and gave them a home in her heart, just as she did all of us.
Even the smallest details of the garden reflect her life stories, down to the number of bird feeders hanging in the trees. In the mornings, she would sit at the table, sipping her coffee and watching the birds rejoicing in the treats she had left for them the evening before. One summer a squirrel family had built a home in her favorite tree, often spilling the bird seed, and causing playful mischief. She fussed about them making such a mess of things and her husband always eager to make her smile, put up a new bird feeder. Now she could enjoy her morning coffee and watch her birds eat merrily, uninterrupted by the squirrels that no longer could steal their snack. But after only a few sips and several failed attempts of baby squirrels to get any breakfast, she would be stuffing handfuls of bird seed into your pockets, saying “you’d better hurry and go feed the squirrels before Harry sees you.” No matter how hard she might try, it was simply who she was to make sure everyone was well fed, none more so, than her husband.
One of the most interesting things about the garden is that it is lined with rose bushes of all colors and if you knew about her secret mail, you might even notice how well hidden the mailbox is from the window views inside. So well hidden in fact, that she could easily send one of the children out to the driveway, to deliver a stack of envelopes filled with checks addressed to different charities, to the mail carrier. If you were to ask her why she did not put the special mail in the mailbox like normal, she would have smiled and told you “mind your business or I’ll box your ears,” then send you off with a pat because you had squirrels to feed. Only her and the rose bushes will ever know exactly how much she sent to the needy of the world, but every day she worked hard to make the world a better place.
Like her, the garden was full of mystery, and no matter how well you thought you knew a path, you could always find something new. Maybe a small trail between bushes you never noticed before, leading to a white pavilion with a single sitting bench surrounded by wildflowers, or a row of stones in a flower bed curving around the bend you never thought to follow before. Incorporated amongst the emotional rainbow of flowers that painted her hearts truest feelings, were well placed statues. Many of which were angels and babies, that, paired with several viewing areas of solitude shows the hearts affliction of a mother’s grief. Placing images that reminded her of Tyke, the baby she lost when he was only eight months old, might have made her feel like he was there. Lone sitting areas for pondering what he may have been like, made sure he was never forgotten and often missed.
In the end, she had it all. A fairytale romance, good friends, and countless children to enrich her days. Everything a woman like her could ever want and when it came time to say goodbye, she accepted it and lived her last days exactly how she wanted them. At home with the love of her life and her family surrounding her, the only pain she felt was the pain of leaving behind so many she loved. Fighting off naps paired with the occasional sign as she started out the window with her chin resting in her hand, gave light to the fact that she was not done being our mother. Her body had grown weak, but her heart was as big and strong as ever. She would have suffered through any amount of sickness just to rock one more grandbaby to sleep in her lap, to meet one more beautiful child that reminded her of her firsts, and to sleep one more night in the arms of her husband.
Love is an immeasurable force, the depth of which can only be known at its loss. For some of us, the wound is so deep that the thought of having to live years without seeing her smiling face again is unbearable. Mary was predeceased by her mother and father; sister Patty; brothers, Ronny and Tommy; as well as her sons, Boyd and Tyke. What brings her family peace is the visions of a long-awaited reunion of a mother and her sons, a daughter with her parents and a sister with her siblings. We can all take comfort knowing her long battle with sickness is over, there is no more pain or suffering. We were beyond blessed to have her with us for as long as we did and there is no doubt, we will love her forever, for she was truly the most beautiful soul we have ever known.
As she requested, there will not be a funeral at this time. Mary’s life will be celebrated as we feel it should be, the way it was lived, with her partner is by her side. Until such a time we will love and cherish Harry just as she did and when their souls unite again, we will honor them with a celebration as beautiful as the love and life they created together.