On the 18th and 19th of July 2021, our most amazing parents continued their 69 year long marriage in heaven.

Their love story is solid, and no matter what people think, there is such a thing as true and forever love. The story begins about 1950ish in Pueblo, Colorado. Dad met Mom because she worked at the Colorado State Hospital with his mom who was a nurse. Their first date was the movie Broken Arrow and he brought his mother.

Dad was told by his high school math teacher that he should just give up on math, because he would never be good at it or "get it." So Dad joined the Air Force and had to ask his parents to sign off that they agreed. Dad and Mom decided to get married but they had to wait until one of them was 18 years old. Dad was 6 months older, so they got married the day after he turned 18. On June 19, 1952 they borrowed a car and traveled to New Mexico, they said their vows in front of the Justice of the Peace, and then drove to Mesa Verde National Park. Mom remembered being able to walk through all the dwellings, by themselves, there were no other visitors on that day.

Dad was sent to California to be trained for his job while in Korea. Mom sold her typewriter to get a bus ticket out there 10 days before he was shipped to Korea. They explored San Francisco and went on roller coasters. Mom said that they never went on them again because they were so sick from the rides.

Dad was sent to Korea and Mom went back to Colorado to graduate high school. While dad was in Korea he was an Aircraft Maintainer specializing in hydraulics. He mainly worked on Lockheed F-80's and F-86 Sabres. He was proud to serve his country and was glad to come home to his wife.

They started their family in 1954 with the birth of the first of 12 children. Dad grew up with a sister and brother and Mom was an only child, they decided to have a large family. Over the next 22 years they had adventures that took them to many different states and countries.

They lived in Bermuda for over 3 years and loved swimming in the warm waters of the Atlantic. They then left for Germany with 4 children and came back with 5. During their time there, they were able to camp across Europe most notably the Swiss Alps. They were able to come back and drove across Canada camping with all 5 children, before heading to Texas. This is where they had number 6, became Catholic, and dad started his Masters in Mathematics from Texas A&M University, as he had already achieved his Bachelor's. They were then transferred to Colorado Springs, Colorado and they started to grow some roots. Children numbers 7 and 8 were born there, then the family moved back to Texas for number 9. Colorado was the next stop where children 10, 11, and 12 were born and Dad retired from the Air Force. Dad's thirst for knowledge was great, and the Air Force afforded him the opportunities that he would have never been able to access had he not joined the service. He was driven to be successful in proving those who told him he wouldn't amount to anything that they were wrong. His tenacity and perseverance served him well throughout his career in both the military and the private sector. One of the awards that he received was a Meritorious Service Award for his outstanding duty performance with the directorate, with system analysis and scientific studies. He was headquartered at Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) at ENT Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Dad retired in 1973, instead of leaving Colorado to go to Washington DC. He continued to work in the same location as a private contractor and Mom and Dad continued to build on our home on Arrowhead Drive. We had a great life in Colorado, and 5 acres to run and play on. Their love and guidance was strict and fun. We dressed up, put on plays, and played football, tennis, baseball and rugby. We went on adventures while fishing on the Arkansas and Platte rivers, after we would pick our oldest brothers up from their high school in Canon City. We went to all the museums and zoos in the Springs and Denver. We went to the state fairs and partook in anything that they considered as a place we could learn something from. We kids were encouraged to play musical instruments and read. We always had a library in our house and we all became voracious readers.

In 1978 they traveled to Port Angeles, Washington to look for property to build their dream home on. In 1984 they were finally able to leave Colorado and move their entire lives and the last 4 children to their "Slolane". They did promise us that it would not snow in the Pacific Northwest. At Slolane. They had to start from scratch and they used all the help that their 7 sons were able to give. We slept in tents and had no power for a few months, but we had an adventure that most people will never have. We shared the property with bears, coyotes and mountain lions and built the house that was designed by Mom and Dad with the trees that we harvested from our land.

As Mom and Dad got older and the kids moved to all parts of the country and started their own families, mom and dad settled into their Slolane life. Dad officially stopped working after a two year stint in Upstate New York. Mom, who had continued being a devout Catholic, decided that she wanted to continue to volunteer with Hospice and Saint Vincent De Paul (SVDP). She volunteered for a while before they asked her to manage the thrift store. She loved her work and the people that she worked with at SVDP. She was able to travel to Arizona, Hawaii and St. Louis. Mom was one of the most compassionate and loving people that one could ever know. She always found the good in everyone she met. She was supportive of my dad all while raising the 11 of us kids. We know this because we have found daily notes that she sent in his lunch from 1975, that he kept.

In their later years, they had a rock that they would give to each other daily that said I love you. They would trade it back and forth professing their love to each other. When the rock got too heavy, they pushed it across the table to each other. They would sit on their porch swing and hold hands as Dad promised Mom that he would take care of her no matter what. He was able to fulfill this promise by living long enough to make sure that she passed before him, by only 22 hours.

Mom and Dad have joined their daughter Amy Gayle and son Gene Mitchell to watch over the rest of their family: Dan Michael Mabrey (Pam), Chris Nolan Mabrey (Patty), Pat Ryan Mabrey (Rhonda), Lynn Gay Mabrey, Laura Ann Mabrey (Frederick), David Wayne Mabrey (Christy), Nora Lea Foster (Darren), John Russell Mabrey (Jessica), Jenny Sue Mabrey, Joel Edward Mabrey (Wendy), 23 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren with one due in September.

Mom and Dad were able to give us more love than what we will ever realize and their love will never be matched.

Memorial service will be on August 14th at 1pm at the Slolane property. All family and friends are welcome.

Drennan & Ford Funeral Home in Port Angeles is entrusted with their arrangements. Please sign their online guestbooks for their family at www.drennanford.com .