Melinda Charlene Gerlofs
(1944 - 2020)
Obituary
Melinda Charlene Gerlofs, 75, of
Fountain Hills, Arizona, passed away suddenly at her home in Fountain
Hills, Arizona on April 3, 2020, her husband was at her side. Melinda
was born December 12, 1944, in Newton, Kansas to parents Wesley Edwin
Jantz and Phyllis Elaine (Weaver) Jantz. She was the first of four
children. Melinda was preceded in death by her parents and her
brother David. Melinda is survived by her husband Robert (Bob)
Gerlofs, her sister Marilyn Vidakovich and husband Tom of Buena
Vista, Colorado, her brother Wayne Jantz and wife Lynda of
Scottsdale, Arizona, one niece, and four nephews.
After growing up in La Junta, Colorado,
Minnesota, and Illinois Melinda moved to Hesston, Kansas, with her
parents in 1961 and completed her high school education graduating
from Hesston College in 1962. The family moved to Greeley, Colorado
in 1966. Melinda attended the University of Northern Colorado and the
University of Colorado. She received a Bachelors Degree in Journalism
in 1970 and was employed by the Greeley engineering firm of Nelson,
Haley, Patterson, and Quirk. Although Melinda had a varied career she
continued to be employed by engineering and energy companies working
in the fields of business development, review of technical reports
and engineering proposals, and community relations.
Melinda always loved the Colorado
mountains and in 2000 moved to the tall pines in Bailey, Colorado. In
2003 Melinda and her friend of over 30 years, Bob Gerlofs, were
married in Evergreen, Colorado. Melinda and Bob lived between their
two homes in Bailey and Lakewood, Colorado, until 2009 when they
moved to Fountain Hills,, Arizona. Melinda loved the Bailey home and
missed the fox and deer that visited daily.
Melinda had a creative mind and will be
remembered as a fun loving person. She loved playing her piano and
guitar and writing and recording original songs and music. She loved
to travel in their fifth wheel trailer and they took annual camping
trips to Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, often spending as much as
much as three months of the year on the road. One her greatest joys
were her German Shepherd dogs. She would play with them and walk them
for hours and they would follow her everywhere. She had a great sense
of humor and her and Bob cold enjoy a good joke and laugh up to and
including the day of her passing.
Melinda is inurned at Evergreen
Memorial Gardens, Evergreen, Colorado.
