Dorothy Harding

Dorothy Ann “Davie” Mack Johnson Harding passed away at Wind Crest's Mill Vista Lodge in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, on March 14, 2022, at the age of 100.

She was born May 6, 1921, in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of Charles Everet Mack and Eleanor Western (Callis) Mack.

Davie lived most of her life in the Rocky Mountain West. She graduated from Billings (Montana) Senior High and, after one year at the University of Montana in Missoula, married L. L. “Larry” Johnson in Billings and raised six daughters there. The family moved to Littleton, Colorado, in 1963.

Widowed at age 60, 20 years later Davie married widower and good friend Richard “Dick“ Harding. They were able to travel and enjoy their companionship for many years; he died in 2018.

Davie enjoyed bridge, mah jongg, her family, and many friendships. She cherished her 60-year membership in P.E.O.; the P.E.O. singing group The Marguerites (in which she participated well into her 80s); and her “six pack” of close friends with whom she traveled throughout the U.S. and to Great Britain. She was an avid Denver Broncos fan. A lifelong lover of the natural world, she enjoyed hiking and picnicking in the mountains. She had a kinship with animals of any sort, but especially the wild birds that graced the skies and her feeders; she delighted in them wherever she went.

She was a gracious, kind, creative, intelligent, and strong woman, a wonderful role model for her six daughters, their families, and many friends and acquaintances.

She is survived by four daughters Karen (Milt) McBride of Boulder, Laura (Neil) Andrews of Littleton, Sandra Mattson of Louisville, and Deborah Johnson of Longmont; two granddaughters, Rachel (Brett) Paradis of Lafayette and Lorna (Zach) Borger of Austin, TX; and four great grandchildren, Evelyne and Vienne Paradis and Camille and Rylan Borger. She was preceded in death by her husbands; her parents; her sister, Margaret Thornton; and two daughters, Marsha and Mary Ann Johnson.

A special thank-you goes to the staff at Mill Vista Lodge and Bristol Hospice, who loved Davie like family and made sure she was safe and that she always wore a sweater to keep warm. They treated her with kindness, respect, and decency. No words can thank them enough.

Plans are under way for a family graveside service followed by an informal gathering of friends to celebrate Davie’s long, full life.

Contributions may be made to the P.E.O. sisterhood’s Colorado Marguerite Fund (coloradopeo.org > Public > Colorado P.E.O. Charitable Corporation) or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, http://birds.cornell.edu.