OBITUARIES

She was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth R. Eichin, and her older brother Alvin MF Vance. Ken and Nadene lived in Fort Collins, Denver, and Arvada, Colorado before retiring in Santa Maria, California. After Ken’s death, Nadene moved to Sacramento, California where she lived near her daughter and her rst grandchild. e family is planning a memorial for some time in the future. Donations are appreciated to fund research for dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Megan (Gilreath) Dickman

July 9, 1974 - February 24, 2023 fall in the Sierra Madre threw a wet blanket on the initiative by reducing re risk, as the bill has yet to be reintroduced in the current legislative session.

Megan Gilreath Dickman was born in Santa Maria, Ca on July 9, 1974, and passed suddenly on February 24th in Arvada Co. She moved to Arvada, Co. with her young family in early 2000. Megan became a successful artist, had an online following, and loved teaching others. She lived by a “you can do it” motto.

She is survived by her mother, Glenda Gilreath, her father, Joseph Gilreath, her sisters, Sylvan, Kristen and Katherine Gilreath, and her two sons, Aaron Lee and Brenden Jan Dickman. Her spirit will soar in our hearts forever.

While the unprecedented threat to these priceless trees might be a rare instance in which “mechanical treatment” is justi ed, chipping away at environmental protections has rarely, if ever, proven bene cial for the environment— especially when politicians try to call the shots.

Giant sequoias need all the help they can get, but that help needs to be informed by good science.

Joe Stone is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonpro t dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is the editor of Forest News, the publication of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics.

September 2, 1944 - March 21, 2023

Janet K. Pease, age 78, of North eld, Minnesota, formerly of Arvada, passed away Tuesday evening, March 21, 2023, at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, MN.

Janet was born September 2, 1944 in Moline, Illinois, daughter of Keith and E. Irene (DeMoney) Pease. She graduated from Moline High School in 1962; received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of lowa in 1966; and received a masters degree in American History from the University of lowa in 1968. She taught American History at Arvada West High School, a profession which she loved, in Arvada, Colorado from 1968 - 2008. Janet moved to North eld, Minnesota in 2017.

Janet is survived by her sister Susan Redalen of North eld, niece Brit Redalen of Apple Valley, nephew Kai Redalen (Gwen Goddard) of Minneapolis, beloved great-nieces Stella and Svea of Apple Valley, cousin Vicki Lewallen Jones of Houston, TX, formerly of Moline, and cousins Norman Ludwick of Placerville, CA, and Larry (Pat) Ludwick of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.

By request there will be no services and the family also requests that no owers be sent. Instead, memorials may be made to the Arvada West High School Foundation, PO Box 1677, Arvada, CO, 80001-1677, or the Arvada Community Table, 8555 W. 57th Avenue, Arvada, CO, 80002, or the Mike Warren Memorial Fund, c/o the Moline Foundation, 16 River Drive #210, Moline, IL 61265.

Arrangements are with the Benson & Langehough Funeral Home. www.north eldfuneral.com

Walter “Wally” Zavitz was born and raised in Kenmore, New York. He joined the Army as a young man and served in Korea prior to the outbreak of war. With the help of the G.I. Bill, he began his college studies at Ohio Wesleyan, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. Despite his heavy courseload, he found time to play football and participate in Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. After completing his undergraduate studies, Wally went on to attend Bucknell University, where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering. At Bucknell, he met Nancy Read, an elementary education major. ey married at the home of her parents in West eld, New Jersey, after graduation.

Wally and Nancy were married for 67 years and had three children – Patricia McNurlin (Don), William Zavitz (Paula), and Kathy Zavitz (Peter). Wally spent his career managing the manufacture of plastic materials. Much of that career was spent in Arvada, Colorado. Wally was athletic and inquisitive, and he liked to stay busy. He enjoyed handball and skiing in his younger years, and he learned to y sh at age 72. Other interests included genealogy and gardening (he was a long-time master gardener). Wally was a decades-long member of the Presbyterian Church. He and Nancy continued that involvement at Westminster Presbyterian when they moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2014.

Wally was well known for his dry sense of humor, which sometimes left his listeners with quizzical expressions. Not everyone got his jokes – and he was just ne with that! He was a passionate, supportive husband and father, and he was kind and friendly to the end. He is survived by his wife Nancy, three children, six grandchildren, and one great granddaughter. He was preceded in death by his parents, Emily and Evan Zavitz and his sister, Arlene Venkatesh. A memorial service is planned for May 20, 2023, in Portland.

A ectionately known as “JD”, Julio Duran, age 97, died March 21, 2023, after a long and ful lling life. He is survived and beloved by his wife Connie, six of his seven children, eighteen grandchildren, and twenty-eight great grand-children and three great, great grand-children.

He was born in Wagon Mound, New Mexico to Antonio Jose Duran and Amalia Espinoza in August 1925. ey had eleven children, seven boys and four girls. Of the eleven children, he is survived by his remaining brother, Deacon Carlitos “Charlie” Duran of Wagon Mound, NM.

A World War II Veteran, he joined the US Naval reserves on April 19, 1943, at the age of seventeen and served on the USS Copahee Escort Carrier in the South Paci c eater. He was discharged honorably on April 5, 1946.

After discharge, he married Consuelo (Connie) Melendez on January 14, 1949, in Wagon Mound New Mexico. ey had seven children, Antonio “Tony” (deceased January 11, 2022), Irene, Eddie, Patricia, David, Julie, and Linda. He and Connie moved their growing family to Denver in 1950 in a 1931 Model A.

He used his GI Bill to study automotive mechanics and owned a gas station and repair shop in Arvada. He retired as a mechanic for Associated Grocers.

JD was never one to sit still. As well as working on hundreds, if not thousands of cars over a lifetime, he and Connie loved to sh. ey bought an RV and a boat and would spend many weekends enjoying Colorado lakes and rivers. JD and Connie loved to dance and whenever they did, everyone watched, they were that good! In later years, they enjoyed going to Las Vegas to visit their son Tony’s family and up to “the hill” in Blackhawk and Central City to play the penny slots.

JD and Connie have been Arvada residents for over six decades. He will be missed by many, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. A favorite memory of all who knew him was his joyful “Good Morning” every single day!

Funeral services will be held over Labor Day weekend in Wagon Mound, New Mexico.

Area massage therapists laud the benefits of the practice on their clients’ ailments, stress

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Caring, compassionate hands — and sometimes feet — are used by massage therapists to help improve the lives of their clients. Massage is an ancient practice, and there are more than two dozen types throughout the world, therapists say.

Four massage therapists interviewed by Colorado Community Media say massage has become more accepted by the public, and more scienti c research is being done to document the health bene ts.

Massage can help with pain and injuries; decrease muscular tension; reduce blood pressure, swelling and in ammation; release endorphins; and much more, according to massage therapists.

“Even people who don’t have speci c problems can bene t from massage,” Destine Robertson with Alpine Medical Massage in Centennial and Conifer said. “Everybody has so much stress, and massage can help relieve that.”

People’s perceptions of massage have come a long way, the therapists said.

“A lot of people think of massage as pampering and relaxing,” Ti any Shocklee with Hearth re erapeutics in Golden said, “but it can help people who have many other issues, too.”

A blend of massage styles

Massage therapy is not an easy profession, requiring hours of training, a certi cation exam and licensing in Colorado.

“It’s become a more regulated eld,” said Mary Davis with Healing Traditions Bodywork in Evergreen, “which I think is best. I think it’s needed and necessary to protect people when they are potentially vulnerable going in for a personal treatment like massage.”

But education doesn’t stop at the 600 hours of initial training for most therapists. ey continue to learn di erent techniques to add to their repertoire.

“ e single most popular, most widely done type of massage in the

U.S. and maybe in the world is Swedish massage,” Davis said. “ at is part of your basic training. It is a bit lighter, more relaxing, with long strokes. en what I do and what a lot of therapists do is integrative massage. We have received additional training in areas that have spoken to us.”

Davis said most of the time she’s integrating di erent styles and techniques in one massage.

“I have a toolbox, and I pull different things out based on what I’m feeling that day in their tissues and what they need,” she explained.

Jenna Courage of Littleton erapeutic Massage Center said she has blended together many styles to create her own technique.

“I make each session specialized for each client,” Courage explained. “Some techniques I use on one client but not another. I feel like I am learning from my clients. ey come in with something new, and I gure out how to work with it, then take that knowledge and use it on someone with a similar issue.”

A satisfying career

Some massage therapists like Shocklee chose the practice as their rst career, while others nd massage therapy along their career paths. Davis and Shocklee have been massage therapists for 19 years, while Robertson has spent 22 years in the profession and Courage 31 years.

“Massage is important for me,” Shocklee said. “It’s what I’m meant to do. It helps me stay connected to myself. For me to go to work feels very focusing and a relief from other parts of my day that may be chaotic. It’s doing something that is single-minded by working with one person.”

Courage was working on a premedicine degree when she realized she had a strong interest in alternative health care. She visited a massage school and signed up the

Ti any Shocklee with Hearthfire Therapeutics in Golden massages a client’s shoulder. Shocklee also o ers ashiatsu massage during which she uses her feet.

Touch

next week.

Robertson, for example, worked in a bakery before moving to massage therapy, quipping that kneading bread dough helped pave the way to her next career. However, she said she should have known that massage therapy was her calling because as a young girl, she rubbed her grandmother’s shoulders. Her grandmother suggested massage therapy as a career.

Davis had a 20-year career in the nonpro t sector rst.

“I like doing things that help people, but I didn’t want to make the commute and sit in an o ce,” Davis said.

Helping others e massage therapists agree that they continue to practice massage therapy for so many years because of the relationships they have with their clients and because of their ability to help others with a multitude of issues.

“It’s a pretty amazing feeling to have somebody come in (for a massage) in pain or with an issue that is a big problem in their lives, and you’re able to gure out how to work with them to help either greatly improve or resolve that issue,” Courage said. “Just the feeling of seeing them feel better, to know that they are healthier, happier, more functional in their lives, and you helped create that.”

Shocklee added: “I feel like it’s very rewarding being able to increase people’s wellbeing. It de nitely can be therapeutic for me to help other people and make them feel better. For me personally, doing things like continuing education so I can keep learning new things and taking care of myself have helped me to be able to do it as long as I can. When I rst started, I didn’t think I’d be doing it that long.”

Davis says she usually see an immediate impact from the massages she provides.

“It really motivates me and makes me feel good,” Davis said. “It gives meaning to my work. I feel like I am having a positive impact on people’s lives.” that are similar to yogic stretching. The therapist uses palms and fingers to apply firm pressure to the body, and you will be stretched and twisted into various positions. Myofascial release therapy: involves releasing sti ness in the fascia, the connective tissue system that contains each muscle in the body. The therapist uses massage and stretch to any areas that feel tense with light pressure.

John F. Barnes Myofascial Release: a treatment used to treat chronic pain from the following: back, neck, menstrual, jaw, headaches, and others.

Ashiatsu massage: a technique where massage therapists use their feet to apply deep pressure to your body. It’s often called barefoot massage. Methods allow the deep tissues, joints and muscles to be massaged while easing the nervous system.

Reiki: a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is based on the idea that an unseen life-force energy flows through people and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s life-force energy is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.