Nederland lost one of its most loyal citizens with the passing of Mary Quinlan Wingate, who died of mesothelioma at age 87 in Fort Collins on June 11, 2020. Until 2019, Mary had spent part of every year of her life in Nederland, and remembered Nederland in her will by donating to the City land above Barker Reservoir, and also leaving a bequest to help support the Carousel of Happiness, which had been near and dear to her heart.
Mary was part of a family with a long Nederland history, beginning in 1913, when her grandfather, A.J. Valore, operated a hardware store in town to support tungsten miners. In 1916, Valore built a cabin along Highway 119 just west of downtown on land which he’d been given to settle a debt. He and his family used the cabin as a summer retreat and Mary maintained the cabin to this day.
Mary Quinlan Wingate was born on March 20, 1933, in Manhattan, Kansas, the daughter of Nell Valore Quinlan and Leon Quinlan. Her father was a professor of horticulture at Kansas State University, where the Quinlan Gardens bear his name. Mary graduated from Manhattan High School in 1951 and K-State in 1955. Shortly thereafter, she married Kansas State classmate Edwin Wingate, and lived primarily in Minnetonka, Minnesota, where she raised three daughters. In 1996 she moved to Fort Collins. She is survived by her daughter Laurie Wingate (Mark Chandler) of Washington, DC, three granddaughters, India Cox, Quinn Cox and Nell Cox, and by her partner of 20 years, David Blanchard. Also surviving are seven Quinlan nieces and nephews and numerous great- and great-grand nieces and nephews. Her late brother, Jim Quinlan, was also a longtime Nederland resident.
Former Nederland Mayor Scott Bruntjen said, “In the twenty five years I knew Mary she worked with the Town to create (and pay for) two neighborhood parks left wild as she had always remembered them. She provided a third substantial gift of land to provide public access from the town to National Forest lands. When the Town began to care for forest health she, at age 65, physically operated the industrial woodchipper to help keep her neighbors safe from wildfire. She loved her town. She made it a better place to be.”
Mary viewed the Carousel of Happiness as a deep expression of optimism even in troubled times. Scott Harrison, creator of the Carousel, said, “Mary was always a great friend of the Carousel and to Ellen and me. She was always a person you wanted to be around, to share space with…so relaxed and pleasant to everyone. When Mary listened to what you were saying, you knew that she was doing just that.
“Buried deep within the animals on the Carousel’s wall is a time capsule with mementos of Mary’s daughters Karolyn Wingate and Jenny Marie Wingate, who tragically predeceased her. A plaque in the Carousel is dedicated to their memory and ‘for the happiness of all children’.”
A memorial celebration will be held in Nederland in June, 2021.
(Originally published in the July 9, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
