Theelda Loree Gunther

Theelda Loree Gunther

Theelda passed away peacefully at Porter Hospice at the age of 93 on Monday, March 9th, having lived a full life filled with love and joy. She will be laid to rest with her husband Garland at Fort Logan Cemetery on Thursday, March 12, 2015, at 10:15 am. A graveside service will be held in her remembrance followed by a reception at Calvary Baptist Church, 6500 E. Girard Ave., Denver, CO 80224.

A native of Kansas, Theelda was the first born daughter of Theodore and Kathryn Shafer of Great Bend, Kansas on May 29, 1921. As the eldest, she was the second mother for her three younger siblings, Theodore Jr., William and Jeanne. Despite the hardships of the depression and Dust Bowl, she fondly described a childhood spent riding her bicycle, swimming, playing the cello and reading everything she could.

As a young lady, she travelled to Denver to attend a women’s finishing school, Colorado Women’s College, followed by the University of Denver, where she was active in the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and excelled in the sciences. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1944. While in school, she met and fell in love with Garland Gunther, and was married June 10, 1947. Together they started a family and raised four children.

Her focus was always her family, but she also balanced a career in the medical field. She worked in the laboratory at Fitzsimmon’s Army Medical Center and Denver General Hospital as a Medical Technologist. By the end of her career, she was managing several of the outpatient laboratories for Denver Health.

 Following retirement, she was able to spend more time with her family doing the things she loved: spending peaceful summers camping in her beloved mountains, traveling abroad, creating handwork treasures for every family member and taking care of others.  She was a gentle soul with an inexhaustible supply of love and willingness to care.

Theelda will be greatly missed by her sister Jeanne (Roger); four children, Doug (Priscilla), Judy (Alan), Marc and Phil (Becky); eight grandchildren, Jason, Carinne, Wade, Jolei, Denae, Hannah, Tim, Ian; and six great grandchildren, Trista, Colette, Makayla, Abigail, Benjamin and Avery. She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Theodore and William, and husband Garland.