Marthabelle "Marti" Kucharski

Marthabelle "Marti" (Cohenour) Kucharski was born March 4th, 1934 in Denver, Colorado, to Mary and Fay Cohenour Sr. Marti and her family lived on an acreage in Aurora until she was 5 years old. Her parents raised turkeys, and had some cows and chickens. Her mom was a nurse and her dad worked for the forest service.

Her family moved to Englewood when she was 5 so she and her brothers could get a better education. Marti went to Hawthorn elementary, Flood Junior High school, and graduated from Englewood High school. After high school she took secretarial and business classes from Barnes business school. She took a semester of pre-med classes at CSU, but due to expenses, she quit - hoping to return later to continue her education.

Marti was employed by the State of Colorado helping people find jobs. While she was employed there, she met Lawrence (Larry) Kucharski. They dated for a while and were married on Jan 9, 1962. To their union was born their daughter Lori, joining her half-brothers Larry (Lawrence) Jr. and Daniel (Dan) Kucharski.

Her family were Christians, and she accepted Jesus as her Savior at the age of 5 at Judson Memorial Baptist church on Kalamath St. in Denver. Later, when Marti was an adolescent, she and her family began attending Englewood First Christian church. Sherman Miller was her pastor, and Darwin Merrill her youth pastor.

Growing up, Marti was very involved in Girl Scouts. She didn't have much of a choice as her mother was the troop leader – and that Girl Scout troop completed every badge that was possible to earn, and as a result, earned the highest honor, the "Curved Bar." While in the scouts, she made many close friends - one of whom was Lucy Hoffhines. Both of them endured all of the challenges of girl scouts together and had a great friendship for over 80 years.

Marti was also involved with pageants during her high school years. That led her to writing and directing pageants for Englewood First Christian church. She and Larry were responsible for producing the annual Christmas and Easter plays, as well as the Mother-daughter banquets, Father and son banquets, widow's dinners, and senior graduation banquets. (Her daughter, Lori, said: “We basically lived at the church. I wasn't a Preacher’s Kid, but I think all of the hours we spent at the church qualifies me as a PK!)

Church was very important to Marti. She had a really good singing voice and was part of the church choir.

She attended Englewood First Christian church for many years until Sherman Miller retired. At that point, she and Larry attended Littleton Baptist church for awhile, and then Littleton Christian church - where Gene Barron was her pastor.

In addition to her talents already mentioned, Marti was an excellent cook, a great seamstress, knitted ski sweaters for friends and family, and had an amazing green thumb. She also had a good sense of humor and liked to make people laugh.

She loved her Scottish/Irish heritage, and enjoyed researching her family genealogy. She also loved animals - especially dogs and cats. She loved our country and she loved Colorado. She grew up during WW II and never forgot the sacrifices the men and women made when she was a child.

However, in spite of all the things she loved, she loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ more. Even with the advanced stages of Dementia, she could still recall all of the words to her favorite hymns, "This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through, "Down from His glory," "In the Garden," "God Bless America," and many more. She could also still quote Bible verses she had learned as a child and young adult. She had a personal relationship with her Lord and Savior for 84 years. Now she is finally seeing him face to face safe in the arms of her Lord and King for all eternity, no longer in pain or suffering. She is getting to take in all the beauty and wonders of heaven at last.

As we celebrate her home-going today, we also mourn our loss. Marti was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, Larry Kucharski; by her parents, by both her brothers Fay, Jr and Robert, Sr Cohenour, and by two nephews: Robert, Jr & Mark Cohenour.

Surviving her are: her daughter & son-in-law: Lori and Bob Merriman, Lori's half-brothers: Lawrence (Larry) Kucharski Jr. & Daniel (Dan) Kucharski (and his wife, Barbara Kucharski), plus 2 Nephews & 1 Niece: Kevin, Terry and Cindy Cohenour – all of whom will miss her presence greatly.