Bea Romer, former Colorado First Lady, dies at 93
Former Colorado First Lady Bea Romer died this week after a long battle with an undisclosed illness. She for the state's first lady for 12 years -- from 1987 to 1999.
Romer was 93 and, according to a news release sent out by her family on Tuesday, she was surrounded by family when she died on Sunday. That included former Gov. Roy Romer, her longtime husband.
In the years leading up to when Roy became governor and after he took office, Bea took on a role as an early childhood education advocate. She was one of the originators of what is now known as the Colorado Preschool Program, which has steadily grown into a universal preschool program for Colorado children that launched this year, and won numerous awards for her work.
"Her work in this arena at the state level is largely credited as the epicenter for what at the time were cutting-edge improvements that Colorado made to early childhood education and specifically for children from birth to three years of age as well as opportunities for young children who were the most likely to fall through the cracks," the family's news release states.
She and Roy had seven children, 22 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
Details of a memorial service for Bea will be announced at a later time. People who want to make contributions in Bea's name can do so to her "favorite early childhood organizations including Montview Community Preschool and Kindergarten, Stanley British Primary School, CSU Early Childhood Center, The Deloris Project and Clayton Early Learning Center."
