Maureen Ryan Thyfault

Maureen Ryan Thyfault, age 80, of Centennial, CO, passed away peacefully on March 15, 2017 at Denver Hospice. She is survived by brothers, Dan and John Ryan; husband, Harold Thyfault; children, Mary Thyfault Clark, John and Michael Thyfault and 5 grandchildren.

Maureen Bridget Ryan Thyfault, a first-generation American, was born to Irish immigrants, John Ryan of County Limerick and Mary Daly of County Kerry, in New York City in 1936.

Maureen, was the third of four children, and spent the first five years of her life in the Bronx. When Maureen’s father got a job as a blacksmith at Standard Brands, her family moved 50 miles up the Hudson River to Peekskill, NY. In the summers, Maureen’s family would often head into New York City to visit Rockaway Beach on Long Island.

In high school, Maureen worked behind the counter at Woolworths, and was a member of the National Honor Society. One of her teachers told her she should be an English teacher, but Maureen had always wanted to be a nurse.

After high school, Maureen borrowed $200 from her brother John to begin nursing school at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY. In 1957, she earned her RN Diploma, and decided with two nursing school friends to leave New York. By the flip of a coin, they determined that their destiny would be to move to Denver, over Chicago. In September of 1958, Maureen joined her two friends, Cynthia and Arlene, in Denver.

Maureen worked as an RN at Colorado General Hospital (now University Hospital) in the orthopedic wing and surgical recovery room. She had the opportunity to work with Dr. Henry Swan, one of the pioneers of open heart surgery, and the mentor to the cardiac surgeon who performed her open-heart surgery decades later.

Maureen and her roommates lived in the Maos Manor Apartments in Denver. As it turns out, she almost met her future husband, Harold, at a party down the hall from her apartment. Upset that she and her roommates were not invited to a party, Maureen and her roommates stayed home. She later found out that Harold, who also had not been invited, crashed the party with some friends.

One week after Harold graduated from college in 1959, a mutual friend determined to set Maureen and Harold up on a date. They first met in front of old St. Mary’s Church in Littleton with plans to go to a picnic at Daniel’s Park in the current Highlands Ranch area. However, before they met, Harold and his friends stopped at several bars along the way, and at the picnic, he impressed Maureen by “falling up the hill.”

A week later, Harold called to ask Maureen out on a date. When he got to the apartment, he wasn’t too sure which roommate he had asked out. He astutely left with the woman who grabbed her coat. For the first six dates, Harold thought Maureen’s name was Marlene.

Maureen and Harold were married in Denver in 1960 at St. Philomena’s Catholic Church. She was welcomed into what her sister-in-law Mary Kathryn (Kay) Thyfault called a “crazy family.” Maureen’s mother-in-law Irene taught Maureen her how to cook and sew. The young couple lived in East Denver for a year, after which, Harold took a job teaching in Leadville, Colorado.

A week after Harold began his job, their first child Mary was born in Denver. The small family moved to Leadville, where there was a record-breaking 360 inches of snow and temperature of 52 degrees below zero during their first year. When Mary was six weeks old, Maureen started working as an evening nurse at the 35-bed St. Vincent’s Hospital. She was always proud that she was an early working mom, helping to supplement the family income.

During the summers, they moved to Denver so Harold could finish his Master’s Degree in Education at CU-Boulder, while Maureen worked at Colorado General Hospital. Their second child John was born in Denver in 1964, shortly after they moved into their house in Leadville.

After five years in Leadville, Harold got a job with Littleton Public Schools in 1966. Mary still remembers Maureen screaming, “Daddy got a job in Denver”, when the job offer came in. The family moved to Seneca Court in Denver, just a few miles from Harold’s mother. Two days later, their third child Mike was born. Harold and Maureen bought their house in Littleton (which later became Centennial) in 1967. They’ve lived in that home for more than 50 years.

Throughout the years, Maureen worked as a nurse at Denver General Hospital, mostly in the Recovery Room, and at Craig Rehabilitation Hospital. She eventually transitioned to taking care of the elderly in nursing homes. In 1998, Maureen very proudly earned her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from St. Francis College of Joliet, Illinois. She retired from nursing in 2002.

Every summer, the family traveled around the country in a small pop-up tent camper. These vacations were built around Harold’s service as a delegate to the annual National Education Association. Maureen was always supportive of Harold’s many, many hours of work for local and state education associations.

The Thyfaults were also very active in Democratic politics starting by serving as precinct leaders for the 1968 election. In 1996, when Harold was working with the Arapahoe County office of the Democratic Party, the Party got two for the price of one with Maureen spending countless hours in the office stuffing envelopes, and whatever else Harold needed done. In 1996, Harold was appointed a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. At the convention, Maureen worked behind the scenes with the Colorado Democratic Party Executive Director and was thrilled to get on the floor of the convention. Following, Maureen was elected Secretary of the Arapahoe County Democratic Party for four years. Maureen and Harold also had the honor of attending both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama’s first inaugurations. In 1994, Harold and Maureen jointly received the Arapahoe County Democrat of the Year Award for their hard work and support of the party. Maureen was president of her local Civic Association for many years. For more than 50 years, Maureen was also active in the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, enjoying her monthly meetings, and social and service activities.

As their children left the nest, Maureen and Harold traveled to see their children and grandchildren in Washington DC, New York and San Francisco. They also fulfilled their dream of traveling to Paris, London, and Bath. Most importantly, they visited Dublin, and Limerick and Kerry Counties in Ireland, to see Maureen’s parents’ homeland and meet Maureen’s Irish family. The Thyfaults also took once in a lifetime trips to Hawaii and Mexico.

Even when Maureen wasn’t working as a nurse, she was always a Florence Nightingale to all her neighbors and friends, bandaging up bleeding knees and heads, and sending them to the ER, and giving shots for migraine headaches, or just offering advice. She was an especially good caregiver to her family, nursing Harold through four knee surgeries and diabetes, and her children through several major illnesses. To her great pleasure, she was there to help after each of her grandchildren were born.

Her family also had the chance to nurse Maureen after she had a 5-way bypass surgery 10 years ago, and as serious dementia/Alzheimer’s set in over the last three years. Harold, Mike and caregiver Kim, especially, were at her side. Throughout this time, she repeatedly told people she had the best husband.

Maureen was an avid reader until dementia took away her ability to read. She would make weekly trips to the library and checkout six or seven fiction books from romance to mysteries. More than anything, Maureen was the consummate empathetic Mom, wife and giver to all who knew her. She loved ordering pizza for Mike’s friends, cooking freezers’ worth of food for her husband and her children, and pitching in wherever she was needed.

Her spirit of giving lives on in her children and grandchildren, who over the years have coached soccer, lead girl scouts, worked at homeless shelters, collected for the needy, and even traveled to Africa to teach about health care. Maureen’s intrepid spirit, kindness, and love for her family and friends will be greatly missed, and live on forever in our hearts.

Afternoon Visitation: 2-4 pm, Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary. Rosary and Visitation: 6 pm, Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary, 6601 S Colorado Blvd, Centennial, CO. Mass: 11 am, March 22, 2017 at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish, 8035 S Quebec Ave, Centennial, CO. Burial: 3:30 pm, Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, CO.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Maureen's name to The Denver Hospice, 501 S Cherry St #700, Denver, CO 80246-1328 or www.thedenverhospice.org