Mary Lou Stammler

Mary Lou (Schneider) Stammler was born on Christmas Eve 1935 at Rose Hospital in Denver, Colorado to Johann Frederick Schneider of Creede, Colorado and Virginia Katherine McCormick of Denver, Colorado. She was welcomed into the family by her older sister Carole Jean (Schneider) Cooke (deceased in February 2025). Both girls were Colorado Natives: Mary Lou's mother's Irish family settled in Denver in the mid-1880's. Her father's German family came to Creede, Colorado as miners in the mid-1890's. She was a third generation Coloradan, her daughter a 4th, and her two grandson's 5th generation natives.

Raised in Crestmoor Park off 6th Avenue in Denver, Mary Lou attended St. Johns grade school, St. Mary's Academy, and graduated from East High School class of 1953. She attended University of Colorado Boulder as well as Barnes School of Business in Denver. In her free time, she enjoyed writing poetry and spending summers at the family dude ranch, The Rippling River Ranch in Gunnison, Colorado.

In her early twenties, she was employed by Royal London Liverpool and Globe Insurance Company and, later, at the State Oil Inspection Department she did secretarial duties for the State of Colorado.

In 1958, Mary Lou, while looking at cars down on Colorado Blvd. with her father, met a young German, Adolf Stammler who worked for a car dealership brand new to the United States called Volkswagen. They fell in love and were married 6 months later. It was a marriage that lasted 60 years. They first lived in Aurora where they bought a home and welcomed a daughter, Elizabeth Ann (Lilli) Stammler in 1962. Later, they moved to Southmoor Park in Denver where Mary Lou served as a Girl Scout leader and coordinator of Press Representatives for the Mile-Hi council for 5 years. She was also the volunteer editor of the Schlessman YMCA's newsletter and a member of the Board of Directors for Bethesda Hospital in Denver.

Mary Lou and her husband Adolf moved with their daughter, Lilli, to Boulder, Colorado in 1974. In 1973, Adolf was offered his own car franchise selling Porsche and Audi, which were also just starting to appear on American roads. After purchasing land in Boulder, Adolf established his dealership and operated the business for four decades. Mary Lou assumed the role of editor for a newsletter focused on historic properties located in Boulder's Mapleton Hill and Pearl Street areas.

She was the President of the Stagecoach Questers and VP of the Statewide Questers Association. She was VP of the Boulder German Club of America and Co-Chairman of the Boulder Council for Internation Visitors and volunteered at the Boulder Philharmonic.

Of all her interests and achievements, she would later say that being a mom to Lilli Stammler, who has been married to Philip Almon for 40 years, and a grandmother to Evan Wilhelm Almon of Boulder, and Zachary Josef Almon of Denver was her life's most fulfilling accomplishment.

She was also the loving Aunt to Virginia (Ginger) Garite of Grand Junction, Randy Cooke of Grand Junction, Fred Cooke of Granby, and Christa Bever of Augsburg, Germany plus 4 grand nieces and nephews. Mary Lou was also blessed with a large group of caring friends over her lifetime, as she was very much a loyal and true friend to many.

There will be a Celebration of Life in the Spring, location and time TBD. 

In lieu of flowers, we request donations in her honor be made to Colorado Puppy Rescue and/or Robins Nest Foundation.