Olympia was born on April 3rd, 1942 in Hondo, New Mexico to Santiago Herrera and Genoveva Vigil Herrera. She was one of 6 siblings.
When she attended high school, she played the bass drum and cymbals in the band and also won the Betty Crocker award (which she often laughed about since she hated cooking).
In July of 1960, she married the love of her life, Cipriano Gregory Griego and became an instant mom to his daughter Gloria. They lived in Lincoln, New Mexico until 1961 when they moved to Colorado. They had 3 more children, Christine, Beverly Denise, and Robert.
Olympia was a homemaker until she began working as a typesetter for the Brighton Blade newspaper. After that, she became a teacher’s aide and discovered her love for teaching. She was encouraged to go to college to obtain her teaching degree and graduated with her B.A. in 1980. She then went on to complete her Master’s degree from University of Northern Colorado. She taught elementary education, Kindergarten through 3rd grade, then moved to teaching Special education in the Brighton school district. Olympia taught her last years at Vikan Middle school teaching special education and then retired after 27 years. She inspired and touched the hearts of many lives along the way.
Olympia enjoyed being with her husband, camping, going to the hill and going out to eat. She loved her grandchildren and attended many band concerts and other school activities. She also volunteered at her church and shared many encouraging words on Facebook.
The Lord called her home on October 12th, 2020 after fighting her battle with Covid-19.
Olympia is preceded in death by her parents, brother, two sisters, daughter Gloria and her husband Cipriano.
She is survived by daughters, Christine (Don) Vogel of Hudson, Beverly Denise (Joe) Reyes of Ft. Collins, and son, Robert Griego of Brighton, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
She will be greatly missed by many.
Due to St. Williams Catholic Church COVID-19 rules and stipulations, the services for Olympia are private, for those that would like to view Olympia's Services you can watch by live feed below.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Pat Tabor
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