Maura Callahan

Maura Callahan, 74, finished her life journey August 22, 2023 as her spirit separated from her body and flew out the window. Walking the cancer path for nearly two years, she never lost her humor or her love for life along the way. Originally from The East (as she was quick to divulge to strangers) Maura resided in Fort Collins, Colorado since 2015. She spent most of the past decade helping children (and some seniors) learn to love the world around them, especially her two beloved grandchildren, Emile Depew (10) and Ambrose Depew (6). Born February 12, 1949, Maura spent her childhood in post-war suburban Connecticut along the Long Island Sound, where she developed an infinite love of the ocean and all the beauty it holds. She was the second of eight children and helped her parents raise her younger siblings. Her mother, Pat, was a stay-at-home mom and her father, Neil, built roads and developed land. In her young adult years Maura moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where she met Ned Depew, her long-time partner and father to their two children. Maura and Ned joined with friends and formed chosen family to establish homesteads and communities in New Hampshire and Massachusetts that ran counter to the dominant culture of the time. Maura spent several life-changing years working at the Fernald State School (with developmentally disabled youth) and at the Walker Home and School for Boys (with “pre-delinquent” boys). These experiences were the basis of her life-long dedication to helping children thrive. In the late 1970s Maura and Ned began a family and started working with adults with disabilities at Fidelity House, a professional focus that continued until Maura chose to complete an adult degree program in Vermont in her 40s. There she explored her love and aptitude for writing, delivering a final thesis on the movement of water as a symbol of life. Although never formally trained, much like her own mother, Maura brought the hand and eye of an artist to everything she touched in the world. Maura dedicated both her personal and professional life to helping and protecting children by extending endless patience and empathy. As a social worker in Albany, New York during her later career (for both Berkshire Farms and Catholic Charities) she was admired for her special knack for supporting troubled young mothers do what their children most needed of them within the child protective and foster care system. In a final act of connecting with water, Maura’s body was cremated using alkaline hydrolysis, also known as aquamation or water cremation, as an eco-friendly final disposition. Maura was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Danny Callahan, and a sister, Shayne Callahan. She is survived by her sisters, Jeannie Barbato (Tony) and Ann Callahan, her brothers, Bob Callahan (Lisa), Neil Callahan (Sandi), and Tom Callahan (Kathy), and her children, Ursula Depew and Honore Depew (Brittany), as well as her two grandchildren, many nieces and nephews - and countless people she touched as a “second mother” and giver of unconditional love. A celebration of life will be held by Neil and Sandi Callahan on Saturday, October 14 at their home in Larimer County, near Fort Collins. Please contact honoredepew@gmail.com if you would like to attend. Donations in Maura’s name may be made to Illuminate Colorado, which strengthens families, organizations and communities to prevent child maltreatment. https://illuminatecolorado.org/donate/