Celia Fay Maske

Celia Maske of Arvada, Colorado passed away on March 31st, 2026. She was 89 years old.

A memorial of Celia’s life will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 at Horan and McConaty Funeral Service, 7577 West 80th Avenue, Arvada, Colorado, with a light reception to follow nearby.

Celia was born Celia Fay Moore in Moorhead, Mississippi on August 24, 1936. Her parents were Rushell Overton (R.O.) and Lama Eulene (Hill) Moore who had moved to the Mississippi Delta from near Amory, MS several years earlier. When she was three, the family moved to Humphrey’s County and established a farm homestead, bringing R.O.’s mother and father from the hill country of northeastern Mississippi.

Known as “Fay” growing up, Celia, with her older sisters Jo Ann and Norene, helped her parents on the farm while attending school in the nearby town of Silver City. She graduated from high school there as valedictorian of her class. Despite having little formal education himself, R.O. worked hard to make sure his girls could attend college, and Celia graduated from Mississippi College with a major in Elementary Education.

Upon completing her degree, Celia was immediately recruited to teach primary school in Colorado. She joined Jefferson County Public Schools west of Denver in 1957 and taught First and Fifth grades for 34 years. Over her career she taught at Fruitdale, Secrest, Swanson, Martensen, Lumberg, and Kullerstrand elementary schools in Arvada and Wheat Ridge. Her concern about the emotional and domestic turmoil affecting some of her young students led Celia to pursue a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling at the University of Northern Colorado, which she completed in 1977.

Celia was raised in church, and having arrived in Colorado began attending Truett Memorial Baptist Church near her apartment in Wheat Ridge. There she met a recent Nebraska transplant, Larry Dee Maske. The two fell in love and were married in Louise, Mississippi on August 14, 1960. Their son Andy was born in 1962, followed by Leah four years later, and Matt three years after that.

Celia and her family settled in an iconic painted red house on Kendall Street in Wheat Ridge. Since Larry’s parents and sister lived nearby, the family made yearly pilgrimages to visit Celia’s family in Mississippi. Celia’s passion for education and the Christian faith ensured that her children grew up very active in both school and church. The family attended Arvada Central Baptist Church, where all three kids were married as well.

After retiring from Jeffco, Celia focused on staying in touch with old friends and former students and visiting family as often as possible. She was elected president of the Colorado chapter of her education sorority, Kappa Kappa Iota, and gave countless hours to the organization. She taught adult Sunday School into her eighties and volunteered with the Wheat Ridge Senior Center (now the Active Adult Center). It also meant a great deal to her to spend time with friends and acquaintances dealing with health challenges, aging, and grief. She fondly remembered her many students, calling them “all my kids.”

Celia was extremely proud of her three children and her five grandchildren, as well as her step-granddaughter and five great-grandchildren. She loved to travel with family, and doing so enabled her to visit England, Ireland, Germany, and China, as well as many parts of the U.S.

Celia was preceded in death by her parents, R.O. and Eulene Moore, her sisters Noreen Slaughter and Jo Ann Harris, and her husband Larry. She is survived by her son Andrew (Huajing) Maske of Las Vegas, NV, daughter Leah Price of Colorado Springs, CO, son Matthew (LeJeane) Maske of Arvada, CO, grandchildren Angela and Kaile Maske, Rachel, Connor, and Whitney Maske, and step-granddaughter Susann (Price) White and son-in-law Daniel White, and five great-grandchildren, Hailey, Caylin, Alena, Finley, and Ethan.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Celia’s memory can be made to the Wheat Ridge Active Adult Center, https://www.wheatridgefoundation.org/active-adult-center.html.