Back in the days when Colorado Woman’s College was viewed by some as a finishing school, Lassie Greenan was the one who taught young women about grooming, skin care, poise and charm.
She believed they all could change into something lovely.
Greenan was Gladys Maus in those days. And she changed too. When she married Warren Greenan, she changed her first name to Lassie, which her father had called her. She said she had always hated the name Gladys.
Greenan was 92 when she died Feb. 15 at a nursing facility in Aurora.
Greenan was perfect for the CWC job. She had been a student at John Robert Powers modeling school and was pretty, gracious, well-dressed and mannerly, said her son John Maus of Littleton and her daughter, Joyce Boogren of Denver.
Greenan’s best-known student at the school was Sharon Kay Ritchie, who was Miss Colorado and then became Miss America in 1956.
Greenan “was full of life and had a cute personality,” Boogren said.
“She was an excellent storyteller, loved to have an audience and loved plays and movies,” Boogren said. “She said she always wanted to be an actress.
“She taught me manners, and I know she tried to teach me modeling, but … we were very different,” Boogren said, laughing.
Greenan modeled for local department stores and automobile shows, said her husband.
“She looked great all her life, and she was a blond all her life,” Warren Greenan said.
She always wore skirts and dresses until later in life, when she relented and wore slacks.
“But she never wore blue jeans,” her husband said.
“How to present yourself was important to her,” said her son, saying his mother made friends with people instantly, walking up to strangers and striking up conversations.
Greenan wrote a column, “As Others See You,” for the CWC newspaper, the Monitor, in which she discussed topics such as the proper way to enter and exit a car; interpersonal relationships; skin care; and how “jealousy, temper and general meanness” can cause more wrinkles than bad skin care.
She told those who were self- conscious to forget their fears because probably the people around them “were shaking in their boots too” and that a person can overcome shyness by getting interested in other people.
Gladys Maddox was born in Denver on July 25, 1913, and was among the first graduates of West High School. Her father owned Maddox Ice Co., which cut blocks of ice in mountain reservoirs and transferred them to customers in Denver. The small town west of Bailey was named for the family.
She was married to Raymond McDonell, Marvin Maus and Warren Greenan. In addition to her husband, son and daughter, she is survived by another son, Warren Maus of Santa Monica, Calif.; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or 303-820-1223.
