T. Michael Moreland "Terry"

On June 1, 1949, Terence Michael Moreland was born to parents Dottie and Ernie in St. Francis, Kansas. For all of his life, he went by a variety of names including Terry, T. Michael, Ter-Bear, Skip, Brudder, Husband and Dad.

When he was younger, Terry had a dynamic mix of friends, interests, and hobbies. He loved rally car racing, and occasionally enlisted one of his sisters to be his passenger seat navigator. He found a love for British sports cars at a young age and began his sports car collection with Triumphs and later, MGs. His love for MGs grew throughout his life leading to friendships, car clubs, car shows, travels, and fast cars (when they were running) to surround himself with. His dad taught him how to fix anything and Terry constantly reminisced on his time spent working on his cars with Ernie.

Dottie and Ernie were Terry’s largest role models who taught him upstanding morals, the importance of family values, and were the ultimate examples of how to be spouses, parents, friends, and believers. Terry was blessed with two younger sisters, Teresa and Tina, whom he loved and cherished. His stories and relationships with them showed a bond of close siblings, reliant on each other, supportive in any way, and always there to give each other a hug and a smile.

Terry is a 1967 graduate of Lakewood High School. He began college that same year at Colorado School of Mines, but later transferred to Western State College and ultimately graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Business Administration. Although very unassuming, those who knew him maintained that he was often the smartest person in the room. His ability to recall facts, stories, and knowledge he had obtained over the years was astounding. He was never slow to jump on the opportunity to make a joke and liven a room. His quick wit was a defining characteristic of Terry, and to know him was to laugh with him. He accumulated stories from his time in school that he shared for the rest of his life. These stories were close to unbelievable but his recollection and storytelling ability placed you in these memories with him.

Terry was proud to be called “boss” during the later portion of his life, but his first job worth mentioning began at a small Italian restaurant in Lakewood called Dino’s. The restaurant was named after its owner, Dino DiPaolo, who looked after Terry during his time spent there, making sure he didn’t get too close to Dino’s daughters. This was always said to be his favorite job mostly because of the tough but loving boss and the friendships cultivated that proved to last a lifetime. Terry’s work ethic and kindness were unmatched and it allowed many people to love him for who he genuinely was.

Terry and Christine (Tina) met while working together in Boulder in 1990. A few years later, they developed a strong friendship and secretly started dating. Coworkers found out about their relationship at Terry’s father’s funeral. Since the “cat was out of the bag”, Terry decided to ask Tina to marry him. Despite the fact that he asked her over the phone, Tina still said yes! They were married a week later since all of his family was in town. Sharing 28 years together, their marriage stayed strong while welcoming three beautiful daughters to complete their family. Six months into their marriage and six months pregnant, Terry ended up in the hospital and had open heart surgery. While he would fight through many illnesses throughout the rest of his life, he always had Tina at his side, fighting along with him. There was comfort in the fact that they would tackle any challenge together, no matter the size.

Terry’s proudest achievement was his daughters, despite being told by doctors that he would not be able to see them grow up. He got to spend more than 27 years raising his daughters and shaping them into people that he was immensely proud of. He shared in their accomplishments and hardships and was willing to do anything to be by their side. It did not matter what they asked of him because he was ready and willing to help in any way possible.

Terry shared his passions and hobbies closely with his family. Each Christmas, he would set up his infamous North Pole village in the house. The monumental collection of houses, elves, trees and trains was enough to grab the attention of the local news for a featured televised story. In addition to his many collections, one of Terry’s favorite things was to travel, which he did extensively. His favorite place to travel to was London, England, and he brought this love into the family when they all traveled there in 2017.

Terry died on the morning of June 9th, 2022 in Arvada, Colorado at the age of 73. He was with his devoted wife, Tina, by his side and his oldest daughter in the home where they lived for more than 20 years. Terry is survived by his eldest daughter Tristin and her boyfriend of 5 years Conner; his middle daughter Trina and her husband of 2 years Tony; his youngest daughter Tricia and her boyfriend of 3 years Ben; his sister Teresa and her husband Dennis of Bayfield, Colorado; his sister Tina and her husband Johnny of Austin, Texas; nephew Joseph and his wife Dasha; nephew Bradley and his fiancée Jess; and his beloved dog Tucker.