Geneva Irene Veirs

Celebration of Life: Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, 10:00 a.m.
Place: First Baptist Church in La Junta
Interment: Rocky Ford Cemetery

Geneva Irene (Genny) Veirs was born on June 8, 1926, in Sheldon, Missouri. She was the third child of Harry Benjamin Mann and Mary Leona Cowan Mann. At nine years of age, Geneva experienced the untimely death of her mother. She attended schools in Missouri until the family moved to Colorado and ranched and farmed 30 miles north of Ordway.

On January 10, 1944, she married Lloyd James Lewis Veirs in Galesburg, Illinois; and the couple lived and worked on a farm in Oneida, Illinois. They returned to the ranch north of Ordway in the late 1940’s and then made their home in Rocky Ford where their daughter Gloria Sue was born followed by Janice Kay 15 months later and identical twin sons, Ray Lloyd and Roy Lewis within two years. The family moved to Swink in 1965 where Geneva lived until a fall in November 2009 required her to be hospitalized and then make her home in the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center Long Term Care Facility where she passed away on August 28, 2013.

Always a cheerful and hard worker, she excelled in many professions including everything from farming and ranching to waitressing and checking groceries at Valley Soopers in Rocky Ford, working in medical offices including La Junta Medical Center and Loma Vista Medical Center, and in retail sales and bookkeeping including Eddy and Langdon which she, her husband, and sons purchased in 1975 and operated as Veirs Valley Home Furnishings in La Junta adding stores in Rocky Ford and Lamar until closing in 1995. Even after “retirement”, she worked at the Rocky Ford Library and served as a personal caretaker for those in need.

Geneva was a life-long member of the First Baptist Church and, most recently, a member of the First Baptist Church in La Junta where she was very active until her health prevented her from attending. There she was a member of the choir and served as a deaconess and on the Church Board. She was also a member of the AVRMC Auxiliary while her health allowed.

She enjoyed reading including the Bible, spending time with family and friends, dancing to big band music, cooking, making jelly, embroidering, and especially enjoyed traveling with family and friends including trips to Europe and throughout the United States and at her family’s cabin near Gunnison, Colorado. In addition, to her children and grandchildren, she was especially instrumental in the lives of her brother Ben and her nephews Tommy and Bobby Bindel.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Raymond, her husband Lloyd in 1982, and her daughter Janice (Kirk) Snyder in 1993. Surviving are her daughter Gloria (Rick) Thomas of Swink and sons Ray Veirs and Roy Veirs of Indianapolis, Indiana. Also surviving are her brothers Charles (Wilma) Mann of High Point, North Carolina, and Ben (Treava) Mann of Northglenn, Colorado. Grandchildren, all of whom survive, are Jason Aragon of Denver, Eric (Sara) Aragon of Avon, Kevin (Brynn) Thomas of Centennial, Megan (Travis) Bender of La Junta, Ryan (Veronica) Veirs of Lubbock, Texas, and Kendra (Nate) Mills of Arnold, Nebraska, Julie (Gabe) Rivero of Parker, Colorado as well as seven great-grandchildren, Hailey and Triston Bender, Reeve and Dax Thomas, Kelton and Kaden Veirs, and Kiptin Mills, and Gabby Rivero. Several nieces and nephews also survive.

A celebration of Geneva’s life will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 4, 2013, at the First Baptist Church in La Junta with Dr. Rex Williams, Pastor officiating and music by Keith Waggoner, soloist, and Barbara Hjelmstad, organist. Concluding services will be held at Valley View Cemetery in Rocky Ford where she will be laid to rest beside her husband.

Memorial donations may be made to The First Baptist Church of La Junta or a charity of choice. 

Peacock-Larsen Funeral Home & Arkansas Valley Crematory is in charge of arrangements.


Funeral service will be Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. at the First Baptist Church with Dr. Rex Williams, Pastor officiating.