Melinda Tharp - mom, wife, best friend, animal lover, and easily one of the nicest, kindest people anyone has ever met - passed away on November 28, 2015 after a courageous 9 1/2 year battle with cancer. Above all, Melinda treasured spending as much time with her family as possible. She went to great lengths to beat the odds of her diagnosis in order to watch her boys, Travis, Taylor, and Tucker grow up and hold her granddaughter, Everly Melinda. Through her unyielding determination and courage to fight her cancer, she helped push modern cancer treatment to new frontiers. Her early participation in multiple test drug trials at the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center, not only extended her life far beyond medical predictions, but paved the way for countless others to have the same opportunity. She will be greatly missed.
Melinda was born on May 6, 1948 in Aurora, Illinois to Frank and Helen Siebert. She graduated from West Aurora High School and went on to earn a B.A. from DePauw University in 1970. While in school, she joined Angel Flight, an organization dedicated to supporting servicemen back from the war in Vietnam. As part of the program, she worked with amputees at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center during the summer of 1969 and fell in love with Colorado.
She moved to Colorado in August of 1970 and was initially an educator working for the Aurora, CO School District and Boulder Valley Schools before discovering and pursuing her passion of being the ultimate mom for her three boys. She was a longtime member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, the Boulder Country Club, and Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Melinda is survived by her husband, Richard "Dick"; sons, Travis (Ellen Durels) (Los Angeles, CA), Taylor (Boise, ID), and Tucker (Boulder, CO); granddaughter Everly Melinda (Los Angeles, CA); brother, Dennis Siebert (Bonnie Schoenknecht) (Oxford, MS); and niece, Sarah Siebert (Oxford, MS). She was preceded in death by her parents.
A celebration of her life will be at the Boulder Country Club on Sunday, December 6, 2015 from 11:30am - 3:30pm with remarks from family and friends at 1:15pm. There will also be an informal walk/run for Melinda on Sunday, December 6, 2015 at 9:00am at 2300 Willow Creek Drive, Boulder, CO. In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions and remembrance gifts may be made to: Spirit Horse Alliance, 501(c)(3) non-profit, P.O. Box 134, Louisville, CO 80027, www.spirithorsealliance.com.
Melinda was born on May 6, 1948 in Aurora, Illinois to Frank and Helen Siebert. She graduated from West Aurora High School and went on to earn a B.A. from DePauw University in 1970. While in school, she joined Angel Flight, an organization dedicated to supporting servicemen back from the war in Vietnam. As part of the program, she worked with amputees at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center during the summer of 1969 and fell in love with Colorado.
She moved to Colorado in August of 1970 and was initially an educator working for the Aurora, CO School District and Boulder Valley Schools before discovering and pursuing her passion of being the ultimate mom for her three boys. She was a longtime member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, the Boulder Country Club, and Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Melinda is survived by her husband, Richard "Dick"; sons, Travis (Ellen Durels) (Los Angeles, CA), Taylor (Boise, ID), and Tucker (Boulder, CO); granddaughter Everly Melinda (Los Angeles, CA); brother, Dennis Siebert (Bonnie Schoenknecht) (Oxford, MS); and niece, Sarah Siebert (Oxford, MS). She was preceded in death by her parents.
A celebration of her life will be at the Boulder Country Club on Sunday, December 6, 2015 from 11:30am - 3:30pm with remarks from family and friends at 1:15pm. There will also be an informal walk/run for Melinda on Sunday, December 6, 2015 at 9:00am at 2300 Willow Creek Drive, Boulder, CO. In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions and remembrance gifts may be made to: Spirit Horse Alliance, 501(c)(3) non-profit, P.O. Box 134, Louisville, CO 80027, www.spirithorsealliance.com.
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