Obituary
Guest Book
Eleanor "Cary" Nierling
Born: November 5, 1933 in Gunnison Colorado
She was the only child of Silvio and Violet Caricato.
Raised: In Crested Butte, Colorado until graduating from Crested Butte High School in 1951.
Graduated: From the University of Colorado with a Medical Technology Degree in 1955.
Moved: To Ann Arbor to work at the University of Michigan Hospital.
Met: The love of her life, Paul Nierling and they married in Denver at Christ the King Church on June 15, 1957.
Married life: Began in the Detroit area with Paul's job.
Family life: Eleanor and Paul had 3 children. In addition to raising the kids, she was active in her church and community.
Moved: Eleanor moved the three teenagers back home to Colorado in 1975, after the death of her husband in 1974.
Life in Co: She volunteered at Lakewood Jr. High School with special needs children and in the community, and eventually worked 21 years at the Golden Police Department, before retiring in 2000.
Retirement: She got busy with documenting the family history, volunteering at her church, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and enjoyed reunions with family and old friends in Crested Butte. She traveled to see family, and to Michigan, and made special trips to Italy with her granddaughter and cousin Gloria.
Survived by: Son Greg and his wife Kitty, and their children Katie (33) and Cameron (28)
Daughter Diane and her husband Jon, and their children Alex (24), Hannah (22) and Emma (17)
And, Daughter Sylvia
Eleanor "Cary" Nierling
By her children
Our mom was such a loving, kind and gentle woman. She was also resilient, intelligent, resourceful, and courageous. She lost her husband when she was only 41, stranded alone with 3 teenagers in Michigan. She decided to move us all out to Colorado where we had family, but this decision was not at all popular with us kids. The old "You are ripping me away from everything I know" whine was heard loud and clear, and despite this she moved us anyway. One year later we were all saying the move was the best thing that happened to us and that the West was a much better place to be. Yes, her insights and instincts were good and sharp.
She made a great life for us and herself. She never wanted to be a burden to us and she made sure she had a life, a job, friends, and other interests to keep her busy. She was always involved in our lives in a very respectful way – never wanting to insert herself unnecessarily, but always interested in the minutia of our everyday lives and always ready to help out with babysitting or a word of wisdom. She raised her children to have good manners, to write thank you notes, to be a good guest and to be responsible and curious about the world. She had a heart of gold, and she would do anything for her children and grandchildren – we knew that unconditionally.
In her later years, she conquered the internet! At first she was fearful and suspicious and never wanted to use her credit card for fear of identity theft. She fiercely resisted technology until she fully embraced it. Slowly and surely she was all over the internet reading up on anything and everything, as well as shopping, sharing pictures and keeping up with her grandkids. She was always curious and interested in researching the latest happenings. She was certainly "with it" to the end.
Mom loved her life and her family and she LOVED being from Crested Butte. She was never more "in her zone" than when she was talking and laughing about growing up in this quintessential place. She left Colorado in 1955 after graduating from the University of Colorado and embarked across the country to a job in Ann Arbor Michigan. In that day, this was a huge endeavor for a really small town girl. She met the love of her life, Paul and they raised their family in the Detroit area, until Paul's death in 1974. Instead of being knocked down, Eleanor again made a big move back to her family roots in Colorado.
Mom was actively engaged in her church community, volunteer service and put in 20 years at the Golden Police Department. In her retirement she enjoyed more of her family, reading, traveling and being a tremendous friend. She had a heart of gold. She will be missed by many for a long, long time. She was one great dame!! We love you mom, and know that you are now with your loved ones, looking over us and still being with us.
A Rosary will be said on Tuesday, May 12th in the evening at 6pm, at St Joseph Catholic Church in Golden (969 Ulysses Street.)
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, May 13th, at St Joseph Catholic Church, with a visitation from 10:00am to 10:30am, Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00am, followed by committal at Golden Cemetery. A reception will follow at St. Joseph Catholic Church Community Center. .
Memorial donations can be made to:
St. Joseph's Education Center Renovation Fund
969 Ulysses
Golden, Colorado 80401
Note: Education Renovation Fund in memory of Eleanor Nierling
Wounded Warrior Project
www.WoundedWarriorProject.org/Donate
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
3 Entries
May 12, 2015
Myfanwy DeVoe
I'm afraid I never got to meet Eleanor, but I have had the very, very good fortune to know her daughter Sylvia, who I believe to have many gifts and characteristics from her mother. Thank you Eleanor for producing an exceptional loving and wise human being! May your many gifts live on well beyond your years and may your time above be peaceful and most pleasant! Myfanwy DeVoe
May 12, 2015
The Nierlings were our neighbors in Harper Woods, Mich. and were among our very first family friends! Our parents were friends and we kids (my three sisters and me) grew up with Greg, Diane and Sylvia. How amazing that somewhere along the way, the Nierlings and most of my family ended up in Colorado! Mrs. Nierling was one of the kindest and most engaging women I've ever known. She exuded grace. She called me not too long ago just to check in and make sure my mom was OK. I'll miss you, Cary, and think of you often. Thank you for being part of my life. Rest in peace. Love, Jane Carroll Andrade
May 12, 2015
How much we loved you and your telephone calls to keep this big family together and informed. Please watch us from heaven and guide us. Josey and I loved you so much. I felt you were my cousin also and I wasn't just someone that had married into the family. Your smile will be the sun every morning that I wake up to. Josey and Sherry Carricato
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