Natalie (Price) Bieber
Marriages
Alan Bieber
Obituaries
Steamboat Pilot and Today - March 2, 2019
Denver, CO – Natalie Price Bieber, formerly of Steamboat Springs, CO and Lyme, CT, died peacefully on February 11, 2019. She had been surrounded by her extended family and friends in her final days.
Natalie was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 18, 1928 to David W. and Dorothy (Schlossberg) Price. After graduating from high school at age 16, she attended Wellesley College for two years. She secretly eloped with the love of her life, Alan Bieber, and together they finished college at Oklahoma A&M (now State) University.
Alan’s job took him to Colorado, where he and Natalie raised four children. It was there that she was able to indulge in her life-long passion for horses. For the next 60 years, she owned and raised them, taught riding to many students, and became a leader in the world of therapeutic riding. After relocating to Lyme in 1973 Natalie began to work with local programs that served disabled clients, and she was one of the first instructors at High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Center. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association and served as the coach for the United States equestrian team at the International Games for the Disabled. With her children grown,
Natalie returned to college and earned a Sixth-Year degree in Special Education from Southern Connecticut State University with a focus on learning disabilities. She worked for nine years at Housatonic Community College providing support to students with these issues, as well as being a private consultant.
Upon their retirement, Alan and Natalie returned to Colorado and settled in Steamboat Springs, where she continued to work with therapeutic riding centers and students with special needs. She also became an accomplished jewelry maker, and her creations were highly sought after. She continued to care for her horses until she was 88. After Alan’s death in 2017 and a car accident that left her in a wheelchair, she settled back in Denver near three of her children.
Natalie is survived by her brother Eugene Price and his wife Rene; her son Alan Bieber, Jr. (Nancy Schanfield), daughter Gail Bieber, and son David Bieber (Suz Walker), all of Colorado, and daughter Leslie Lewis (Ralph Lewis) of Connecticut; grandchildren Kate Bieber (Ryan Ogg), George Bieber (Catherine Russo), Emily Lewis, and Rebekah Bieber; step-grandchildren Daniel Edwards (Samantha Bergren), Amanda Schanfield (Jason Schwartz), and Juliana Edwards (Jared Fisher); five great-grandchildren and four step-great-grandchildren; loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and many others who consider themselves part of her “adoptive” family. Donations in her memory may be made to High Hopes Therapeutic Riding in Old Lyme or to the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.
