Obituary of Jeanne Ann Cloos

Obituary Jeanne Ann Cloos, 70, of Fort Collins, passed away on August 16, 2022, after a valiant battle against brain cancer. Jeanne, first named Jean Ann, was born on October 5, 1951, to Drexel “Red” and Irene Cloos at the then Larimer County Hospital (now Poudre Valley Hospital) in Fort Collins, Colorado. Jeanne’s brother, Robert “Bobby” remembers their early years as happy times with “good parents.” Their father was an avid angler, and the family loved the mountains, so they often spent time there. They traveled a great deal with trips to the New York World’s Fair in 1964, several visits to their father’s roots in Pennsylvania and frequent train trips to their mother’s adoptive family in Maryville, Missouri. Long-time friend Norma notes that Jeanne’s high school years as a proud member of the class of ’69 at Fort Collins High School were especially cherished to her. Jeanne sang in the A Cappella Choir, played in the band, was a member of numerous clubs, including GAA, Latin, Ski and FTA. Jeanne participated in the Class of ’69 Committee and helped to plan many of the class reunions throughout the past 53 years since their graduation. Norma remembers that the activity that best showed Jeanne’s exuberant spirit and brought her the most joy was when the student body chose her as a member of the cheerleading group known as the Pom Pon Girls, who performed at all football and basketball games. Norma’s friendship with Jeanne as a member of this group has lasted to the present day. The two of them also tried out, and were chosen by the selection committee, to be members of a group that toured Europe, singing in 1969. After returning from Europe later that year, Jeanne went on to study Art and Home Economics at Northwest Missouri State University (or Maryville as she referred to it). On her first day there, due to overcrowding in the dorms, the Campus Housing placed her in hideous “overflow housing” that consisted of tiny “quads,” nasty, squatty little buildings with small rooms on two stories. That is where she first met two of her best, life-long friends, Debbie Perry and Suzy Seemann. They tell that, while the university was firmly segregated by gender, with the men’s dorms on one side and the women’s on the other, their “overflow quads were located smack in the middle of the men’s housing! When the girls learned of this fact, they spent the entire first night laughing hysterically about the fact that they were going to spend their first semester living right in the middle of the men’s housing area!!! These three all became members of the Phi Mu Sorority, and their friendship has lasted firmly to the present day. Jeanne transferred to Colorado State University, since Maryville did not have a degree program in Interior Design. She completed her studies and graduated from CSU. She also completed courses from an Art School in Denver and then taught there for a couple of years following that. Jeanne worked successfully as an interior designer for many years. She was a designer for show homes in Denver, worked for Ralph Lauren Interiors and wrote a regular article giving design advice to homeowners for the Rocky Mountain News before moving to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. There she sold for Log Cabin Homes. Her successful work with Log Cabin Homes led her to the opportunity to design and build a ranch for Monte Black in Ridgeway, Colorado as well as a home for him and his wife in the UP. Her proudest accomplishments were the ranch she built in Ridgeway, a home that she designed for a client in Telluride and a cabin she helped her father build on the Big Laramie River near Woods Landing, Wyoming. Dear friends Joy Buhalts and Ellen Simmons speak of great times that they spent traveling extensively with Jeanne and tremendous visits that they had throughout the years. Their friendships were among the longest and strongest of all during Jeanne’s lifetime. Both of them were there for Jeanne up until the very end. In later years, Jeanne put her career on hold to take care of her parents. She spent five years traveling with her mother, Irene, a retired kindergarten teacher, and talented artist, to support and promote the sale of her popular handcrafted souvenir ornaments. This work became Jeanne’s passion, and they traveled the country to art shows, retail shops and vendors with Irene’s beautiful Tree Cycled Art until Irene’s increasing Alzheimer’s made it impossible for her to continue. Jeanne cared for her until her death in 2014. Jeanne then cared for her father, Red Cloos, helping him to complete a dream of his to build a cabin near Woods Landing. She spoke of the times spent working with her dad on the cabin as some of the most precious of her life. Jeanne cared for her father in Fort Collins until his death recently in December of 2021. Jeanne is survived by her brother, Robert Cloos [Lidia] of Castle Rock, Colorado. She will be greatly missed by longtime high school friends of Fort Collins, Phi Mu sorority sisters, and other dear friends that have known her throughout the years. While growing up and whenever living in her hometown, Jeanne was a life-long member of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church of Fort Collins, Colorado. Her Celebration of Life Service will be held there at Saint Luke’s on Thursday, September 8, 2022, at 10:00 AM followed by a simple reception at the church. Services Celebration of Life Thursday September 8, 2022 10:00 AM St. Luke s Episcopal Church