Margaret Chandler

Margaret was born in Clintonville, Wisconsin on May 12, 1923. She passed away peacefully from complications due to dementia on what would have been her mother’s 111th birthday, April 16, 2016. In addition to her parents, Edward and Tillie Laux, she was preceded in death by brothers Edward (Bud) Laux, Richard G. Laux and sister Delores Gustafason, husbands James C. Hughes and Howard Chandler, and companion Robert Brightenburg. She is survived by sisters Laverne Olmsted, Clintonville, WI, Lorraine Miller, Beverly Hills, FL and brother James Laux, Appleton, WI; children Barbara Hughes, Denver, CO, Melanie Hartman, Temecula, CA, Louise Hughes, Wheat Ridge, CO, Warren Hughes, Wheat Ridge, CO, and Russell Hughes, Palisade, CO; step-children Chris Chandler and Judith Bird; nine grand-children, nine great grand-children and numerous nieces and nephews. A celebration of life may be held at a later date. At age 15 Margaret left her home, family and school and, with a girlfriend, moved to Chicago where she helped build the first radar detectors for the Navy during World War II. She married her supervisor, James Hughes, and they had 4 children (Barbara, Melanie, Louise, Warren) before moving to Jim’s native Colorado where their 5th child, Russell, was born. For many years she worked long, hard hours as a waitress to help support her family and provide Catholic schooling for their children. When Jim became ill and was hospitalized for the last three years of his life, she assumed control of the their small family grocery store; visited him daily on her cross-town drive to the store; while ensuring their five children had a hot meal every night. She became a widow for the first time in 1968 at age 45. Margaret loved to go dancing with her girlfriends and that is where she met and later married Howard Chandler, a railroad engineer. They traveled the world visiting places she had read about but never dreamed she would see. Her favorite place was the island of Ephesus off Turkey, where St. Paul preached. During this time, she worked at St Johns Hospice, Colorado’s first hospice center, and she also volunteered at the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society (JCRS) while earning her GED. Howard introduced her to amateur poker and there were many exciting family events where penny stakes turned into dollar jackpots with Margaret being the most enthusiastic player of all! She and Howard always visited the local casinos on their world travels. She was also an avid Yahtzee competitor (racking up over 80,000 points with her daughter Louise) and kept her dice on the kitchen table ready for a game. In her late 50’s, as Howard was bedridden with cancer, she bought her first musical instrument, a 2-tier organ, and learned to read music and play it to comfort Howard. She loved playing the Beatles’ songs. After a lengthy illness, Howard passed and Margaret began the next phase of her life. Although she did not have a formal higher education, she was a prolific reader of books, magazines and newspapers and was able to converse with anyone on a wide variety of subjects. For decades, she completed the NY Times crossword puzzle daily (apparently refuting current belief that staying active and learning new things wards off dementia). Margaret was very knowledgeable about world history and was particularly interested in the lives of U.S. Presidents. Many of her US trips revolved around visits to presidential libraries. In her 60’s she took up skiing and hiking. She was a member of the Colorado Mountain Club and skied and hiked with them in the US and Europe. She even helped axe-cut the original Colorado Trail, now 566 miles long, from Denver to Durango. She loved to bowl and won trophies and more free games than she could give away. Bowling also gave her one of her dearest friends, Arlene Dynes, who was a great comfort to Margaret in her last years. In her back yard she created a stunning display of over 500 irises, along with roses, columbines and other flowers which were enjoyed by family and friends. Many of her blooms appeared in paintings and on ceramic plates painted by friends and neighbors. In her 70’s, Margaret purchased a computer so that she wouldn’t miss out on anything and to “surf the net,” whatever that meant! She never quite got the hang of it but enjoyed emailing her long-time friends and “surfing” for exquisite English rose garden websites. Dancing again brought Margaret to her last life companion, Bob Brightenburg. He was a very kind man and could fix anything! Bob gave her a puppy and she came to know the unconditional love of their little Snoopy. Although the Hughes children always had a variety of pets, this was the first time she was the center of an animal’s attention which took her a while to get used to. Unfortunately, Bob also suffered a long dementia related illness and after he passed Snoopy was a great comfort to Margaret until he joined Bob in heaven. No longer able to continue to care for her home and garden, Margaret moved to a senior-living apartment in her late 80’s where she remained for only a year before moving to assisted living and finally to memory care at beautiful Atria Park in Lakewood. She missed most not having a car and being able to go wherever she wanted, when she wanted. Although she was confined, Margaret did not give up on life and even had 2 “boyfriends” (also in memory care) at the ages of 91 and 92. She acted like a giddy teenager when she was around them – the gal had spunk! She developed a very dry sense of humor in her later years and kept the staff and her caregivers entertained with her witty quips. Margaret’s children admire her and are so grateful for all the sacrifices she made for them. She passed on her life-long love of fishing, camping, learning, reading, gardening, travel, golfing, crossword puzzles, music and enjoying the great Colorado Mountains. She was dearly loved and will be sadly missed by all.