Mariana Cogswell Weinhold, aged 83 years, passed away peacefully at home on January 11, 2024, in Madison WI, surrounded by her loving family and devoted caregiver Amy.

She was born on September 24th, 1940, near Saguache, Colorado, to John and Marjorie (Means) Cogswell, descended on her mother's side from pioneer settlers of the San Juan high country and on her father's side from the earliest (1635) colonial immigrants to Ipswich, Massachusetts.  The family later moved to Wenatchee, Washington, and subsequently to Goodland, Kansas, where Mariana grew up on the family ranch and attended a country elementary school.  Thereafter, she attended the National Cathedral School of Washington DC for her high-school studies (1954-1958) and Colorado College (1958-1962) for her undergraduate studies in modern European history, including an "Experiment in International Living" summer study in Germany (1961).  She recalled being in Berlin on the fateful day when the newspaper headlines proclaimed, "Die Grenze ist Geschlossen!" ("The border is closed!"), sealing the division between East and West Germany.

Upon completing her BA degree, Mariana won a Fulbright Scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Freiburg, Germany (1962-3).  There she met fellow Fulbright Student Frank Weinhold, whom she later followed to Harvard University where they began their married life as "dorm parents" in the Radcliffe dormitory system.  Frank's subsequent post-doctoral studies took the young family (with daughter Diana) to England (Oxford University, 1967-68) and California (UC-Berkeley, 1968-69), and thereafter (with son Craig) to Palo Alto, California.  In 1976, the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Frank was a professor in the UW Chemistry Department.

Throughout her life Mariana was an avid outdoor and travel enthusiast with a special love of Colorado and river trips through the American Southwest.  She was as comfortable cruising through Scandinavia as she was riding on the back of a cargo truck in Myanmar, sharing many wonderful adventures with friends and family.  Mariana was also a shrewd investor with a keen eye for real estate.  After moving to Madison, she completed a master's degree in accounting at the UW School of Business and earned a license as a Certified Public Accountant in 1984.  Thereafter she began a long career with Raymond Management Group, a hospitality developer of Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn hotels. She retired in 1998 as CFO.

A life-changing event for the family was the acquisition in 1980 of the pioneer farmstead at Louis' Bluff on the Wisconsin River north of Wisconsin Dells. Mariana and Frank soon spent most weekends there and Mariana became a fixture of kayaking events and conservation efforts. She was a long-time supporter of Natural Heritage Land Trust (now Groundswell), Stewards of the Dells, Voyageurs, Gathering Waters, River Alliance, Little Eagle Arts Foundation, Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation, International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration, and other like-minded organizations. She also served on the Shorewood Hills Board of Trustees and participated enthusiastically in tennis, bridge, and other activities of her beloved Shorewood Hills neighborhood.  She and Frank moved in 2021 to a retirement home at Capitol Lakes where she was buoyed by many new friendships.

Mariana was preceded in death by her parents, elder sister Lorna (Mason) of Castro Valley CA and younger sister Martha (Auld) of Tiburon CA. She is survived by elder brother John Cogswell of Saratoga WY, husband Frank, daughter Diana of London, UK, son Craig, daughter-in-law Alenka (Halova), beloved grandchildren Lukas and Simone Weinhold of Madison WI, and numerous nieces, nephews, and in-laws elsewhere.  Memorials in her name can be offered to Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation endowment for Louis' Bluff, or other organizations mentioned above.