Grace L. Anfield

The Life and Adventures of Grace Anfield

My mother, Grace Lilla (Martin) Anfield was born on May 3, 1924 in Fort Morgan, Colorado to Zedekiah and Irene Martin. Her childhood was full of friends, ice skating, dancing and learning to play the violin.

A major lesson in learning to take care of herself is a story centered around a quarter she had earned selling eggs. She left the quarter on her desk at school and one of the Green girls that sat near her desk stole it. Grace stormed home and told her parents she had confronted the Green girl about it to no avail. So her dad put her and her brother into the car and they drove to the Green family's home, parked in front and honked the horn until they all came out of the house. Grandpa demanded they give back the quarter and a free for all ensued between the Greens and the Martins (sort of like the McCoys and Hatfields) on the front lawn, with the Martins emerging as the victors 25 cents richer.

Mom was raised with a strong sense of right and wrong and I remember her saying of ten that she couldn't break the rules even if she wanted to because her uncle was a sheriff in Fort Morgan when she was a kid and he kept a pretty close eye on her and her friends.

Her parents taught her the value of working hard and spending her money wisely which really paid off when her marriage of 10 years suddenly ended. By this time, she had graduated from high school, moved from Aurora, Colorado to Ogden, Utah, from Utah to Denver, from Denver to Tulsa, Oklahoma and finally back to Denver and had given birth to four children. The greatest goal of her life was to keep the family together under the same roof. In order to do that she asked her dad to come live with us to watch over we kids while she worked at odd jobs at night to earn enough to feed us all.

Her marriage to Bennie Anfield brought a sense of security and stability that greatly impacted her and the entire family because of the love and humor he shared with each of us. Moving to Westminster in 1957 was also beneficial as we watched her entrepreneurial side emerge and explode into the challenge of building a small business from scratch. The business was a small creamery that sold ice cream, other milk products, and ready-made sandwiches. It was located near a high school and she looked for ways to attract the teenagers by putting in grills to make hamburgers and investing in pinball machines to keep them busy while waiting for their food and obviously, for added income. The kids loved her because she had a beautiful smile that she enhanced with very red lipstick, wore stylish bright clothing and exuded a youthfulness that wore you out because she was always in perpetual motion.

After the three older kids graduated from high school, got jobs and left home, she made a career of working in security for Public Service Company, the Water Board, and finally Stapleton Airport. She was a 5'4" female no nonsense powerhouse to be reckoned with. Harry recalls an encounter with her at Public Service, before we knew each other. He had forgotten his ID badge and turned on the charm thinking she would overlook the fact that he had broken the rules.

When the attempted charm failed to work, he became puffed up and said, "do you have any idea who I am (he was the director of operations)? Mom's response was, "I don't care who you are, no badge no entrance. So Harry had to call upstairs to get his administrative assistant to bring the badge downstairs so he could return to work. Years later, after he and I started to date, he attended my niece's wedding with me, and when we arrived and entered the reception area Harry pointed to a woman across the room and referred to her as a mean security guard he had had an unpleasant encounter with a few years back. He looked puzzled as I began laughing and asked what was so funny, to which I responded that mean security guard is my mother. The look on his face told me he was a little more than embarrassed and I was quick to calm his fears and tell him that she was good at what she did and took her job very seriously. Not to worry I still loved him.

Her job responsibilities placed her in postions of authority. She had no fear and consequently took no guff from anyone. She was awarded several honors for being a sharp shooter and she was highly respected by the Denver police department and the companies she worked for, for her ability to locate and identify stolen cars , accurately. She worked well into her senior years and finally retired at 73 (having run out of bullets).

She loved to travel–but only in Ford cars. She loved her parents, loved her kids as best she could, love God, loved dogs and loved the Broncos. She was a star on holidays because she loved to make bake and take cherry cheesecake and referee equal consumption by all.

As alzheimers began to engulf her mind, her children closed in around her, in thought, in visits and in support of her main caregiver, her daughter Connie. I focused on remembering her as she had been not what she was becoming and knowing in my heart, with certainty, that I will see her whole again in heaven one day.