Profile photo of Ethel Mae Maroney

Ethel Mae Maroney

DecDecember 20th, 1934 • JulJuly 16th, 2026
Littleton, CO
Ethel Mae Maroney

Her love continues to shine in our hearts.

Obituary

Ethel Mae Maroney of Littleton, Colorado, passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 16, 2026, at the age of 91. Born Ethel Mae Paxton on December 20, 1934, in Frame, West Virginia, she was the eldest of three daughters of Peter and Ruth Paxton. 
In 1951, she met the love of her life, James "Jim" Maroney; they were married on September 6, 1952 in Charleston, West Virginia. Ethel and Jim lived in various locations before settling in the Littleton area in 1957. She immediately fell in love with Colorado, fondly calling it home from the moment she arrived. Ethel and Jim were together for an amazing 75 years and raised five children in a household filled with laughter and love.

Ethel was a playful, fiercely loyal, and spirited woman who brought immense joy to her family and friends. She loved bowling in local leagues, gardening, solving tough puzzles, and cheering for the Denver Broncos. She was famous for playing video games alongside her grandchildren and brought a fun, competitive streak to family gatherings. Ethel had a quick wit, loved music, and enjoyed a glass of Merlot with her dark chocolate. A successful real estate agent during the 1970s, she later retired from a local insurance office in the 1990s. 

Ethel is survived by her loving husband Jim Sr.; five children – Alice (husband Tom), Patsi, Jim Jr. (partner Doug), Pamela (husband Patrick), and Theresa (husband Frank); six grandchildren – Victoria (husband Robert), Stephanie, Ryan, Kyle, Franklyn, and Michael; four great-grandchildren – Parker, Rowan, Chloe, and Evelynn; and her sister Cora (husband Jerry) plus numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Peter and Ruth Paxton, as well as her sister Mary.

All are invited to attend either or both of two events scheduled on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at the Morningside Clubhouse, 7100 E. Hamilton Place, Denver, Colorado 80224. The first event is a memorial service starting at 1:00 pm, followed immediately by an informal gathering from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm to honor Ethel’s well-lived life. Light refreshments will be served. 

Her ashes will be interred in a private ceremony at Fort Logan National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Home Builders Foundation (https://hbfdenver.org), a nonprofit that generously modified Ethel’s home to increase her mobility. 

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August 27, 2026
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Mom was a "winter solstice" baby, born on December 20, 1934, in Frame, West “by God” Virginia; she was the first of three daughters born to Peter and Ruth Paxton. When she was young, her family moved around quite a lot; they lived in many different rural areas of West Virginia and Virginia, meaning that she had to change schools quite often. The Paxtons eventually settled in Charleston, West Virginia, where Mom attended Stonewall Jackson High School. In 1951, she met Dad at a St. Patrick’s Day party and it was love at first sight. They married on September 6, 1952 in Charleston. Since Dad was in the Air Force at the time, they lived on various bases where he was assigned, including a six-months in Landsberg Am Lech, Germany, before he was transferred to Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. Alice ("1 of 5") was born in Sumter in 1954. Mom was extremely pregnant with me when Dad was discharged from the Air Force in 1955; as much as they'd hoped I'd be born while he was still in the Air Force, I ended up being born a week later after they were back home in Charleston, West Virginia. The four of us moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1956.

Like many other families that moved to the Littleton area in the late 1950s, Dad was hired by The Martin Company to work on the Titan Missile project in 1957; Mom fondly recalled getting off the plane in Denver and saying to herself, “ah yes, this is home”; she never wanted to live anywhere else. They bought a house in the Nob Hill neighborhood in the area now known as Centennial where we lived for many years. Since she moved around and had to change schools a lot when she was young, she would tell us how much she loved living in one place for so long. Of course, this means that the rest of the gang were born in Colorado; Jim Jr ("3 of 5") was born in Denver in 1959, followed by Pam in 1961 ("4 of 5"), also born in Denver, and last but not least, Theresa "TC" ("5 of 5") was born in Englewood in 1962.
Patsi Maroney
August 29, 2026
For someone that did not like her photo to be taken, we sure have alot of good ones!! Great job Patsi!
Theresa Maroney Badia
August 27, 2026
You'll notice in some of the older photos that Mom had jet black hair as a young woman. Her hair started turning white when she was in her mid- to late- twenties; it started with a small patch of white on top of her head which got bigger and bigger over the years. She would laugh whenever someone would ask her where she got her hair frosted. At one point in her thirties, Mom started dyeing her hair back to black for several years before deciding it was too much work, so she stopped. As the roots grew out, she was surprised to see how much the white patch had spread to cover more and more of her head. The white area kept expanding until her hair was mostly white by her early forties. When she got closer to her 50th birthday in 1984, she again decided to dye her hair, saying “it was one thing to be young with white hair and quite another to be old with white hair.” That only lasted for a few years before she decided to stop dyeing it; then she embraced her beautiful white hair from that point forward.
Patsi Maroney
August 27, 2026
Mom absolutely loved living in Colorado; whenever family would visit from out of state, she enjoyed taking them up into the mountains. She and Dad would often drive up into the mountains to explore, spend time in little towns, camp out, and hike. They liked to attend productions held by local theatre groups in the mountain towns and enjoyed camping under the stars. She was especially delighted when they discovered a Mount Ethel (www.summitpost.org/mount-ethel/910768) as well as a James Peak (www.summitpost.org/james-peak-st-mary-s-glacier/150240).
Patsi Maroney
August 27, 2026
To celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in 2022, I traveled with Mom and Dad back to West Virginia for a two-week vacation to visit family. While we were there, we found the spot in Kanawha State Forest where Dad not only carved their initials back in 1951 (!!) but where the initials are still very visible to this day. Much to Mom's chagrin, I contacted the local newspaper without telling her & Dad first; like she always said, better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission! The paper did a feature article about their visit: https://tinyurl.com/3x9cbp6s
Patsi Maroney

Service


All are invited to attend either or both of two events scheduled on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at the Morningside Clubhouse, 7100 E. Hamilton Place, Denver, Colorado 80224. The first event is a memorial service starting at 1:00 pm, followed immediately by an informal gathering from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm to honor Ethel’s well-lived life. Light refreshments will be served. 


Her ashes will be interred in a private ceremony at Fort Logan National Cemetery at a later date.  
Location
Morningside Clubhouse
7100 E. Hamilton Place,
Denver, Colorado 80224.
Date/time
Saturday, August 29, 2026
1:00pm - Memorial Service
2:00-4:00pm - Honoring a Life Well Lived

Donate

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Home Builders Foundation, a nonprofit that generously modified Ethel’s home to increase her mobility.  To learn more, visit their website at https://hbfdenver.org/ 
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