Rosella Beek Mitchell Hollenbaugh was born on March 22, 1925 in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, the daughter of Fred and Ethel Marolf Beek. Rosella had two sisters, Pearl and Anna and two brothers, Alfred and Larry. Rosella was the youngest of the Beek children, her older sister Pearl was like a mother two her, and her brother Larry affectionately called her Tootie.


Rosella married Don Mitchell and they had two children, Ron and Jim. After Dons death, Rosella married Dean Hollenbaugh and gained two more children, Ron and Wanda. She and Dean must have played 50,000 rounds of golf around the property. After Deans retirement, they traveled all over, always with their clubs in the trunk. Rosella and Dean were founding members of the Smokey Hill Golf Club in Cheyenne Wells and she was a longtime member of the United Methodist Church in Cheyenne Wells.


The Hollenbaugh family loved to fish. They would take trips to Wopsie, a backwater of Mississippi for family vacations. Rosella loved life, and the beautiful things that life had offered her, from traveling around the country looking at plantations in Louisiana, to just sitting at the table with her grandchildren watching the birds with the binoculars for hours on end.


Rosella was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, but she never complained. She had placed her trust and confidence in Jesus Christ, and He had assured her that everything would be OK. Rosella had watched her sister die from cancer, she nursed Dean through cancer, and had survived breast cancer herself. She had a strong faith and an unending love for her family and friends. These things sustained her in her last weeks and days. Rosellas life was fully lived, rich in love and family. If you knew Rosella, you knew these things to be true.


Rosella Hollenbaugh died on February 1, 2008 at the Keefe Memorial Hospital in Cheyenne Wells, CO. She is survived by her children: Ron Mitchell of Ft. Collins, CO, Jim Mitchell of Katy, TX, Ron (Paula) Hollenbaugh of Bartlesville, OK and Wanda Stephens of Bartlesville, OK, 5 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren as well as a host of extended family and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husbands Don Mitchell and Dean Hollenbaugh as well as 2 brothers, Larry and Alfred Beek and 2 sisters, Ann Saligovic and Pearl Mahlberg.


Memorial services were held on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at the United Methodist Church in Cheyenne Wells, CO with Rev. Burry Bessee officiating. Margery Carter provided the accompaniment for the Cheyenne Wells Community Choir to sing Amazing Grace, Be Still My Soul and On Eagles Wings. Mr. Jim Bessee sang The Lords Prayer. Following the celebration of Rosellas life, friends and family gathered in the fellowship hall for a time of remembering and a meal.