Anne Marie Severson, a longtime resident of Steamboat Springs, Colorado who raised five children and spent her lifetime making everyone around her live life more fully, passed away on Aug. 25, 2016. She was 84.

Anne died at the Doak Walker Care Center from complications related to Parkinson's Disease. She had been there for two years, attended to daily by her husband, James Howard Severson, 83.

Anne and Jim moved to Steamboat Springs from Detroit in the fall of 1979 and immediately jumped into the stream of Steamboat life. A vibrant, generous woman, Anne was the first to offer to host a luncheon or organize a fund-raising event. Over the years, she helped start a newcomer's club, ran several events to support the Yampa Valley Medical Center and volunteered for the Winter Sports Club. She donated much of her time and spirit to Holy Name Catholic Church.

She also worked for many years at retail stores in Detroit and Steamboat, with her longest and most memorable run as a saleswoman and cooking instructor at The Homesteader.

Anyone who ever met Anne can recall a recipe she shared or a dish she cooked or an evening at one of the fabulous parties she hosted. She and Jim were known for their epic Christmas Eve parties, dating back to their early years in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Jim's career took them to several cities, including Los Angeles, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Houston, Texas. Throughout the many moves, Anne quickly turned the family's new home into a warm and welcoming environment and became fast friends with the neighbors.

She had a lovely sense of style, and her hair and clothes were always sophisticated yet fun. Anne never met a party she didn't like, and found a way to inject a sense of celebration and grace into almost any event. She traveled to several other countries with her friends, sisters and children, and had a special place in her heart for her beloved brothers and sisters.

Victoria Severson, one of her grandchildren, described Anne perfectly: "She always wanted your plate to be full and your heart to be full." Indeed, Anne was a model friend, giving of her heart and her time when anyone in her wide circle of friends were in need.

But above all, she was a gifted and much loved mother, and her love of hospitality and cooking lives on in her five children, Keith, Kent, Kim, Keely and Kris.

She left behind 8 grandchildren and two great grandchildren, some of whom already are carrying on her culinary legacy.

Anne and Jim also passed on their lifelong love of outdoor activities to their children. Family vacations were often organized around camping trips, and they spent many days cross-country skiing, playing tennis and golf. Anne never turned down a bridge game and loved her bowling league, with which she kept up long after her diagnosis with Parkinson's in the late 1990s.

Anne was born on a dairy farm in Barron County near Cumberland, Wisconsin, on March 11, 1932. She was the 10th of 11 children, all of who remained close throughout their lives.

Her father was John Zappa, and mother was Florence Ranallo, who emigrated from the town of Ateleta in Abruzzo, Italy.

She met Jim Severson at a college dance. Jim was a student at the Eau Claire State, (now the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire) and Anne was working as a beautician after having completed training at the Milwaukee Beauty School in Eau Claire. They dated for a couple of years and on July 30, 1955 they married in Fort Carson, Colorado, where Jim was serving as part of the U.S. Army's Mountain & Cold Weather Training Command. They were starting their 62nd year of marriage when Anne died.

"She was giving," Jim said. "She cared for people. She was a good wife and an excellent mother."

Anne entered the Doak in 2014, and remained there until her death. Jim spent nearly every day with her, feeding her and taking long walks around the campus. He and two of her children were with her as she died.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to be directed to the Doak Walker House at Casey's Pond (http://caseyspond.org/villas-suites/doak-walker-house/).