Clara Mary Reida died Sunday, March 19, 2023, at her home following a lingering illness. She was 85.
Miss Reida was born May 4, 1937, in Harper, Kansas, to Arnold and Maudie May (Hundley) Reida of Rago, KS. where she was raised. She attended Kingman County rural schools and graduated from Adams Rural High School in 1954. She was valedictorian and lettered in tennis, basketball and softball.
In 1956, she obtained an Associate of Arts degree from Pratt Junior College, and in 1959 was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in education at Kansas State Teachers College in Pittsburg. She was a lifetime member of Sigma Tau Delta sorority.
She began her teaching career at Kingman County High School before moving to Colorado in 1965, where she taught briefly in Pueblo before accepting a position with the Custer County C-1 School District. She taught elementary, middle school and high school classes before retiring in 1991.
She and her late partner, Margaret Locarnini, bred and raised registered Appaloosa horses at their Singing Acres Ranch located in Silver Park, 14 miles east of Westcliffe, which they purchased in 1965.
In 1968, they opened the Silver Hills Ski Area on the ranch which they operated through the mid-1980s. They also operated a seasonal riding camp — the San Bonito Camp — for students at the former St. Scholastica Academy private girl’s school in Cañon City.
Miss Reida was preceded in death by her parents and by her partner Margaret Locarnini in 2007. Also preceding her in death were a brother, Gale Reida, and sisters Zelda Palmer and Virginia Van Dolah. She is survived by a brother, Arnold “Ray” Reida of Rago, Kansas, and by numerous friends and family, including a niece, Bridgette Reida of rural Westcliffe.
Miss Reida was cremated.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, May 13th at 11 a.m. in the West Gym at Custer County School, 709 Main Street, Westcliffe, Colorado
In lieu of memorial contributions, Miss Reida requested that her friends and family help a neighbor in need or a downtrodden stranger.