Denise Irene Etl

Denise Etl lived her life as a loved mother, grandma, sister, and aunt of many. She passed away on January 18, 2017 in her daughters’ home with her family, friends, and loved ones by her side.  Denise fought a strong battle against terminal brain cancer for 14 months. She was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor known as Glioblastoma the day after Thanksgiving in 2015.  Denise was an excellent mother to two and an inspirational grandmother to 10. Her support system included her mother Dorothy Kuntz, daughter Tammy Browning, son Brian Etl, and grandchildren Alyssa, Ashley, Alex, Kaylee, Nathan, Katie, Aleya, Laila, Danika, Heath, along with her two brothers Robert and Edwin and her Sisters Donna And Beverly. She was preceded in death by her Father Mike Kuntz.

Denise graduated High School in Haxtun CO, and soon after graduated from College with her MA License. Throughout the years, she was a nurse for Dr. Van in Sterling and later in Yuma for Dr. Manter.  She then moved to Longmont CO and went back to college to become a CPC for billing and coding. After graduating as one of the top of her class at age 54, she obtained a job with Pinnacol Insurance which allowed her to quickly move up as an investigator. This Accomplishment promoted her to Blue Cross Blue shield and was shortly diagnosed with the brain cancer after that.

She had a love for Christ and His church that grew daily with constant prayers and making sure her children were well taken care of.  She absolutely loved her family as it was her life. Life revolved around her kids and grandkids which included never missing a birthday or going on school field trips. Her home-cooked meals were never anything less than perfect, which she never believed was good enough. One of her many passions were making quilts, blankets, and teddy bears for her children and grandchildren. She spent hours sewing, organizing, and carefully creating personalized quilts that were made with love and hard-work. Denise was so proud of her family and would do anything to see a smile on anyone’s face. When Grandma would visit for the weekend, all of the grandkids would scream, “Grandmas Here!” We knew that the feeling was mutual as she ran in the house with her bags and gave the biggest hugs and kisses; she loved the attention from the kids. After the heartbreak she had when the doctors announced her illness, her first response was, “Why me? My grandkids are my life, I don’t want to miss out on anything.”

Denise always made sure to take family vacations every summer with her kids because she knew that time spent with family is very important to her and that time is valuable.  Last year in 2016, Denise went on many trips with her family to see things she only dreamed of,including an Alaskan cruise.  She had a memorable last year with her family and enjoyed every moment she could.  Denise taught everyone to love and to love big and because of her selfless actions and strong love, the family she created will always remember her as the one to inspire us to love big.

A special thank you to everyone who contributed to Denise at the benefit auction in April of 2016. It allowed her to live with less worry of bills and funeral expenses.                                                                                                   

Funeral services will be held in Akron CO at St Joseph Catholic Church, Rosary Thursday January 26 at 5:30pm and Funeral Mass on Friday January 27th at 10:30am.  The services were directed by Baucke Funeral Home.