Adina Margaret "Maggie" (Arterberry) Doyhenard
Marriages
Jean-Pierre Doyhenard - June 1959
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3D Obituary - June 16, 2019
Maggie Doyhenard November 1, 1941 - April 10, 2019 Adina Margaret “Maggie” Doyhenard, age 77, died April 10, 2019, in Grand Junction, Colorado. Memorial services will be June 18, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. at Martin Mortuary in Grand Junction, Colorado. Graveside services follow at Crown Point Cemetery, with a dessert reception at the Canyon View Park Handball Court concluding Maggie’s Celebration. Bring a camp chair and dessert. Let’s share! Maggie was born in Santa Ana, California to Joe Burt Arterberry and Adina May (Granath) Arterberry on November 1, 1941. An adorable blonde haired, blue eyed baby, Maggie was nurtured with tender kindness by friends and family in Gateway and the Unaweep Canyon while her father served in WWII. Tender memory of that unselfish love lasted her whole life. At age seven, Maggie got a new mama when her father wed Melba Ilk, giving Maggie the happiness of a permanent home. A school friendship changed Maggie’s life forever. The Gauthier girls and Maggie had countless adventures, but summer sheep camp was always the best. Maggie met a handsome Basque sheepherder one summer, and that was that. Jean-Pierre Doyhenard hadn’t intended to stay in the United States, but love moves mountains. Jean became a US citizen and bought 1,200 sheep. In June, 1959, Maggie and Jean were married and made a sheep camp of their own on Pinion Mesa. Maggie set up housekeeping with coal oil lamps, cast iron skillets, and a couple wash tubs. She cooked on wood stoves, with no electricity or running water. They moved camp every few weeks in summer, and wintered the herd on the desert along the Dolores River west of Gateway. Pinion Mesa and Glade Park folk tucked the newlyweds under their wings. Maggie loved them for teaching her to be a stockman’s strong wife. Maggie and Jean became parents in May 1960 when Mona Kay was born. Jean was lambing when Maggie delivered their daughter in town. In February 1962, they welcomed Michael Vincent, a handsome baby boy they both adored. Maggie nurtured Michael’s mechanical ability and fed his desire to build things. She shared a love for weaving words into good stories with Mona. Maggie showed her children the soothing magic in quietly watching nature. She is the Mother who raised her children high, higher than she’d been raised herself. Maggie and Jean bought a farm at Appleton in 1969, starting a new chapter on 31 acres, in a house built in 1900. Maggie’s kitchen hosted bum lambs and millionaires alike. 4-H kids filled Christmas baskets for shut-ins there, and countless debates were argued around her table. Mother D’s perspective wasn’t always what we wanted to hear, but it was truthful. You found sanctuary with Maggie, whether in quiet conversation or raucous midnight jam sessions in the hay barn. For a woman so tiny, no hug was as powerful as a hug from Maggie. Her embrace was mystical. Mona and Michael weren’t the only kids Maggie’s love influenced. She went out of her way for kids. She hauled sweaty wrestlers around in her Ford Falcon, and made props for school plays. Maggie was a 4-H Leader for a decade, helping kids at club meetings, chaperoning dances and helping make Mesa County Fairs so much fun. Maggie became a substitute cook at Appleton School in 1970, and a Five-Star Lunch Lady was born. Maggie was so proud to be Wingate Elementary School’s first Kitchen Manager when it was built in 1982. She retired from Food Service at Wingate in 2002 after more than 30 years feeding and loving hungry kids. Maggie the Lunch Lady was watchful, lending sweet encouragement with playful friendship, genuine smiles, and extra Tater Tots when nothing else would do. Maggie’s two grandchildren were the most cherished treasures of her heart. She was present when both Kyndall and Brandon were born. Maggie floated seven feet off the ground at the sound of each baby’s first tiny cry. Her tear-streaked, joyful face was aglow with love. Those babies had Grandma’s fierce devotion from their first meeting. Maggie could be supremely persuasive. The Basque Handball Court at Canyon View Park stands today, in part, because she rejected the idea of tearing it down for a parking lot. The structure at 24 and G Roads held precious memories of cultural fun, cemented long before it was folded into a municipal park. Maggie, usually a gentle peace keeper, went to war. With the Basque community in action, she convinced private citizens, businesses and historians to fight. Months of work boiled down to a single City Council meeting. Council voted to preserve the fronton! Maggie was proud of that, a community cause worth a good Basque fight. Maggie was a good woman, good at so many things. She loved to dance, anytime, anywhere! She baked the best cinnamon rolls. She could catch fish without using a pole. Maggie could pick up a piece of flint and find arrowheads in minutes. She canned fruit and grew vegetables, and sewed her own clothes because store bought stuff just never fit right. Maggie was a crack shot with whatever gun, bow, rock or stick you put in her hands. She was the “lambing crew” on the farm, delivering lambs every spring for decades. She could run like the wind, catch a fly-ball barehanded, ride horses bareback, and patch almost anything that broke. She was fearless! Maggie was witty and never missed a chance to hand out a good razzin’. She was a pistol, and man, could she talk! Maggie and Jean’s marriage was simple. Kindness, sweet devotion, mutual trust, respect, and so much laughter. Theirs was a perfect match. Maggie lost Jean in 2007, and was never quite the same for missing him. Her parents, Burt and Melba Arterberry and May Yeager are also gone. Maggie missed her Aunt Margaret and Uncle Tony Kovach, friend Buddy Plank, and her dear neighbor, Aileen Davis. Friends who were like family in Gateway, on Glade Park and Pinion Mesa, and in Appleton have dwindled, too. She was born here, but her heart was Basque. She deeply mourned the loss of every member of her collective Basque family. There’s comfort knowing she’s now had a chance to hug everyone’s neck! Maggie is mourned by her son, Michael Doyhenard (Melissa), and daughter, Mona Dyer (Rick) of Grand Junction. Granddaughter, Kyndall Dyer of Lakewood, and grandson, Brandon Dyer of Grand Junction, cherish their Grandma’s memory. Maggie’s extended family includes the Gauthier kids, Lewis, Kruckenberg, Mahoney, and Davis families, and many others she adored. She is survived by cousins, half-siblings, and in-laws in California and the French Pyrenees who loved her. There was only one Maggie. In lieu of flowers, consider contributions in Maggie Doyhenard’s name to HopeWest Hospice in Grand Junction.
