Mary Jo Somrak was born May 12, 1942 in Pueblo, Colorado. She passed away Sept. 20, 2024 in Gunnison, Colorado. Services were held at the Queen of All Saints church in Crested Butte. She was laid to rest in the Crested Butte Cemetery with the rest of her family. She was very proud to hail from Crested Butte.
Mary Jo was preceded in death by her mom Josephine (Babe) Somrak, her dad Rudolph (Shammy) Somrak, Sr., and brother James Joseph Somrak. She is survived by her son Michael and his family, and her oldest brother Shammy Jr. and his family, along with many cousins near and far.
After her birth, not uncommon at the time, the family returned to Crested Butte where she was raised with her older brother, Shammy, Jr. and her younger brother, Jimmy, across the alley from Slogars, Croatian Hall, then moved around the corner onto Whiterock Avenue across the street from her grandparents, Mary and Rudah Sedmak along with several aunts and uncles and cousins — all living on the same street.
She was known as a mom, sister, Auntie Mary Jo, MJ, Gramma Peek, Peek, Gramma Jo and Cookie — a nickname given to her by her uncle, Joe Sedmak (Cheech). Last but not least, she was also known as Flauschink Queen in 1974.
She attended elementary, middle and high school in Crested Butte where she was cheerleader and played the French horn. She had a few fun summers working at Harmels up Taylor Canyon. She had a brief one-year stint at nursing school in Pueblo, but saying, “It just wasn’t for me,” she returned to her beloved Crested Butte.
She worked several jobs around the valley and then for a brief time at the U.S. Forest Service in Gunnison. After that she landed at the Crested Butte Ski Area, now known as Crested Butte Mountain Resort. This was her love job where she thrived and remained for the next 30+ years where she became a “fixture” at the Axtell Building until retirement.
During one brief ski area slowdown, she worked four years for AMAX but then returned to her “original desk” in the Axtell Building working for Bo Callaway, Ralph Walton and Tim and Diane Mueller. She loved her co-workers — from her bosses, to the lift-ops, the pro-athletes, her beloved ski patrol and mountain maintenance. Upon retirement, and in her honor, a ski trail on the mountain was named “Mary Jo.” She was fond of saying, “I’m now on the map!” She was in the know, was trusted, non-judgmental, fair, a good listener, non-prejudice, a good communicator and knew well the inner workings of the resort. If someone needed something done, they would always say, “You need to go find Mary Jo.”
Mary Jo loved her son Michael along with Crested Butte’s countless polka parties, its miners, its builders, the ranchers, athletes and even the hippies sitting on the bench in front of the Company Store. Her motto was, “Give everyone a fair shake and a friendly wave.” She loved to pray for others, be with family and friends, dancing the polka and riding horses in the backcountry with her dad — just to name a few. She loved the mountains of Crested Butte and Durango where she could enjoy her grandchildren, Joey, Annie and Sarah. There were never enough good books to read, enough children or animals to love and being a grandmother was the icing on the cake. She had a great sense of humor up until the end.
Mary Jo will never be forgotten and will always be loved. Her final moments were just as she would have liked it — being with “just us.” I’m sure she is dancing up a storm in heaven.
God bless you Mary Jo, and rest in peace.
