Obituaries

Mari Barbara Laing, age 71, of Denver, Colorado, and Cedarville, Michigan, passed away on September 18, 2025, at her beloved summer cottage in Cedarville, surrounded by family and love. Born on March 31, 1954, in Dowagiac, Michigan, to D. Bruce and Barbara (Brown) Laing, Mari lived a life marked by creativity, humor, and a spirit all her own.

Mari graduated from Wayland Academy before attending Albion College, where she earned a degree in the arts in 1976. She began her professional life as a paralegal but found her greatest joy in raising her daughters and creating a home that radiated warmth and beauty. With her first husband, Dr. Stanley Smazal, she welcomed her two daughters, Alison and Sarah, who remained at the heart of her life. Later, she shared her natural eye for design as a gifted interior designer, known for filling spaces with color, imagination, and character.

Mari embraced life fully—whether skiing down mountain slopes, swimming in Michigan’s clear waters, boating across the Les Cheneaux Islands, or treasuring the companionship of her beloved standard poodles. She delighted in life’s simple pleasures: black licorice, powdered sugar donuts, candy corn with peanuts, a cold Diet Coke, and most of all, laughter with those she loved.

She is survived by her husband, T. Michael Cook; her daughters, Alison Anne (Kristian) Carlson of Aurora, Colorado, and Sarah Elizabeth (Brent) Hollingsead of Lyons, Colorado; her beloved grandchildren, Bear, Luna, Cassian, Rumi, and Ember; her sister, Anne Laing Gottlieb; and her brothers, G. Bruce Laing and James S. Laing.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

A Celebration of Life, honoring Mari’s joyful spirit with stories, laughter, and her favorite sweets, will be held at a later date.