Mary Ellen was born in Laurel, in 1929, to Eva and Roscoe Dempster. Red, along with her brother, Tom, graduated from Laurel schools. Red received undergraduate degrees in elementary education from Wayne State Teachers College and University of Iowa, and a master’s in education with administrative certification from Northern Arizona University. Red taught generations of students in elementary schools in Flagstaff, Ariz., until she retired in 1991.

She celebrated books, worldwide travel, and hosted memorable parties.

She was active in the Arizona Education Association, in which she served as a member of the executive board. She was on the Board of the Flagstaff Summer Festival of the Arts, and a devoted supporter of the Flagstaff Symphony as part of her lifelong love of music.

Red is survived by her three children, daughter, Laurie (Sam) Levy, Iowa City, Iowa; her three grandsons, Aaron Levy (Laurie), Sedona, Ariz.; Matthew Levy (Natalia), St. Paul, Minn.; and great-grandson, Tiago, and Miles Bartoletti-Levy (Ashley) of Minneapolis Minn.; son, Dan (Nancy) Miles, Seattle, Wash.; and son, Pat Miles (Mary Jo Patton), Amherst Junction, Wis., and stepchildren Andrew Lehman, Amanda McCarthy, and greatgranddaughter, Mary Ellen Miles

Grambrills Md., and Kathleen Lehman and Enrique Serrano, Fayetteville, Ariz.