A beloved and wonderful child of God passed away peacefully at her home September 20, 2026. She was 90 years old.

Born in Ringgold, Nebraska, Mabel Fowler and her family moved to nearby Gandy when she was around 11 years old. She entered the world at the tail end of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl and lived through many hardships but also experienced much joy and laughter throughout her lifetime.

Energetic and intelligent, Mabel graduated class salutatorian from Gandy High School in 1954. That summer, she moved with her parents and her younger brother to Western Colorado. She told the story of coming over a hill near where they would buy their new property and thinking “this feels like home.” Within weeks, she met “the boy next door,” D. Jay Grant. They dated six months and were married at the First Baptist Church in Olathe on November 7th, 1954.

After two years following work on the roads and oil fields of Colorado and New Mexico, the couple achieved their dream of owning a farm and house when they purchased both from Jay’s parents, who lived next to Mabel’s. They farmed and endowed their children—Lucinda, Sharry, Jo, Karen and Brad—with the same devout, hardworking and inquisitive spirit they both shared.

Mabel’s faith and resolve passed its sternest stern test in 1966, when Jay suffered a near-fatal farming accident that cost him his left arm and right leg. Fortified by her deep religious devotion, she inspired his miraculous recuperation, never leaving his side, and kept the farm and family together with support from family and friends.

Throughout her life, Mabel never stopped learning. She took bookkeeping classes to handle the farm finances and learned how to make and decorate cakes for special events like birthdays, graduations and weddings. A gifted singer and pianist, she learned to play guitar and sang with Jay in community music groups in the Montrose area. She was active in the Olathe Methodist Church, a leader in the Olathe Community 4H Club and participated in numerous community groups.

She also happily shared her skills as a cook, landscape painter, seamstress and decorator with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In her later years Mabel said she did everything that she wanted to do in life. That included being a self-taught architect. In 1991, when she and Jay sold the farm and moved to 60 acres on Franklin Mesa near Montrose, she designed the home in which they would live. With Mabel at his side, Jay would pass away there in 2022; and with her children by her side, she joined him four years later.

Mabel is preceded in death by her devoted husband of 67 years, D. Jay Grant; parents Wesley and Alma Fowler; daughters Janet and Lucinda Grant; granddaughter Valerie Colzani, brother Winford Folwer; and sister Mariam Schroeder.

Mabel is survived by her brother Fred, daughters Sharry Colzani, Jo Rizzi, Karen Grant, and son Brad Grant; grandchildren Casey Granados, Daisuke (Ben) Harada and Kosuke (Jon) Harada and great-grandchildren Penny and Lucas Granados.

In lieu of flowers or contributions to the family, donations can be made to the Olathe United Methodist Church and Hope West Hospice Care of Montrose. A memorial service will take place Saturday, November 7, at 10:30 AM at Olathe United Methodist Church.