Jarmila "Jacqui" Mae Marcotte, 90, of Watkins, Colorado entered into eternal life early morning of January 2, 2026. Jacqui was born March 29, 1935 in Sioux City, Iowa, but spent the first few years of her life in Germany with her parents Gladys and John Mattis.

For their safety Jacqui returned to Iowa with her mother and spent the rest of her childhood with her mother's side of the family, after her father was a casualty of war. In her youth, Jacqui was Horse Woman of the year, and achieved a pilot's license. In 1965, Jacqui married Thomas "Tom" Marcotte, and was forced to quit her job as a stewardess to enter into marriage. Jacqui and Tom climbed fourteeners together and travelled around the world. She then went on to have a highly successful and renowned career as an interior designer in the Denver area.

In 1989, Jacqui retired from interior design, and with Tom and their children, fulfilled her lifelong dream and bought a horse ranch in Watkins, CO. Quail Run Ranch boarded horses, hosted horse shows, and featured training, lessons, and breeding. In later years Jacqui and Tom kept the ranch for private use. Jacqui enjoyed her work with the horse protection and humane society and fostering abused, abandoned, and unwanted horses, dogs and cats. She had great joy in working her horses under the philosophy of mutual gains and respect, watching the commercial aircraft fly inbound over the ranch to Denver International Airport, and ending her days watching the sunset over the mountains from her backyard.

In addition to her children, Michael Marcotte (Colorado) and Kelly Marcotte Akulschin (Colorado), Jacqui loved her 5 grandchildren Ellie Marcotte (New Mexico), Jack Marcotte (Texas), Thomas Akulschin (Colorado), Adam Akulschin (Colorado), and Charlotte Marcotte (Colorado), and was the best grandmother they could have asked for!

The family will have a small celebration of life when the weather warms up in the late spring, TBD.

The family asks, rather than flowers or other memorials of any kind, that you enjoy a sunset and give extra love and care to your family pets. If anyone still feels a need to give, please consider donating to the Colorado Horse Rescue Network .