Stephen Madsen

Stephen Madsen, 62 of Thornton , Colorado , passed away on Sunday, March 27, 2011. He spent his first 18 years of life in Kellogg , Idaho. He graduated from Kellogg High School in 1968. Left Kellogg area to go to college and spent the next 40 years in Colorado. Stephen was a devoted and loving husband to Carolyn; Father of Wayne (Nicole) Madsen, Tricia (Chad) Bradshaw and Amy Madsen; Brother of Carol Thrasher, Peggy (Richard) Rust and Jim (Cindy) Madsen; Grandfather of Taylor and Nora Madsen and Dax and Cole Bradshaw. Stephen's true passions were golfing, wildlife and youth sports. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 12PM, Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 9998 Grant Street, Thornton, Colorado. A reception will follow the service. There will be a second Memorial Service held on Friday, April 8, 2011 at 2PM, Hazen & Jager Funeral Home, 1306 North Pines Road, Spokane Valley, Washington. Memorial Contributions suggested to Hospice of Spokane, P.O. Box 2215, Spokane, WA 99210. We are here to celebrate the life of Stephen Madsen. He was 62 yrs. young when he left us which seems like such a short time. Steve would tell you that he was a very lucky man and had 12 really good years of retirement where Steve and Carolyn enjoyed golfing around the country. He would jokingly say that he just wanted to make it to see his first Social Security Check and he did. Steve grew up outside the little town of Kellogg, Idaho. He has 3 siblings: Carol the oldest, Peggy and Jim who were younger. They had enough land that they raised some animals. He had a pet duck that was like a watch dog. It would chase any one off the property that wasn't suppose to be there by nipping at their heals. He shot his first elk at age 13 not far from his home. He did it with a Winchester model 63 .22 long rifle. If you know your guns, you would know that that is quite a fete. He went to elementary school at Elk Creek School. I mention this because there were 6 kids in his 6th grade and they were all boys. When it came to junior high he was bussed into Kellogg. That is where he met Carolyn. They went on one date and only one date. He met her at the movie theater and then walked her home and then they parted ways. Neither one thought that was any fun!! His passion back then was Little League Baseball which his dad coached. He played catcher and was good at it. He also had a paper route and a big one. He would load all his papers on his bike and peddle up and down the gulch of Big Creek every day. It was hard work, especially in the winter but he loved making that money. He would lecture his kids about the importance of hard work and savings. One day in the fall of his senior year, he and some of his buddies were refereeing a girl's flag football game that Carolyn was playing in. He told his buddies that he thought he might ask her out. Well that ended up to be a lasting relationship. They were married for 42 years. After he graduated from high school he wasn't sure what he wanted to do since Carolyn still had another year of school to go. So, he went down to Coeur d'Alene to Northern Idaho Junior College where he spent one semester. He discovered that Northern Idaho Junior College wasn't for him. He went to work for a saw mill where his dad was an electrician. That convinced him that he should go back to school. In February 1968 Steve asked Carolyn to skip school for a day where they took a trip into Spokane Washington where they picked out a ring and got engaged. They married the weekend before Carolyn was to graduate from high school. They took a three day honeymoon to Canada so that Carolyn could be back for her high school graduation. After graduation they packed up his 1953 ford pickup with everything they owned and $400 and headed to Chicago where he attended DeVry Institute of Technology. They both worked full time and he went to school. Three years later he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Electronic Engineering. They left Chicago the day after he graduated and moved to Denver, neither one having a job. Carolyn got a job working for the Sentinel Newspapers and Steve got on at Western Electric where he spent 30 years. In 1973 they bought their first home and had their first child, Wayne Stephen Madsen. Steve coached Wayne in the Thornton Baseball Assoc. for over 8 yrs where he was the president of TBA for 3 years. To this day everybody still recognizes Steve's community service to TBA. He was hard on Wayne. He would tell Wayne that he had to be hard on him because he was the coach's son. Wayne graduated from Horizon High School in 1991. While in high school he met Nicole Blue who was a year younger than Wayne. While he was waiting for Nicole to graduate, he went off to Florida and joined the U.S. Navy Reserves. When he came back he and Nicole decided to go off to Phoenix, AZ. Where he enrolled at DeVry Institute of Technology, the same school Steve attended, only in Phoenix. Wayne graduated with a Bachelor degree in Computer Science. After graduating they moved back to Denver and were married. They currently live east of Brighton on acreage where they fill their time raising animals. They have two children, Taylor who is 5 yrs. old and Nora who is the newest member of the family born Dec. 22nd. Wayne currently works for Qwest as a Technical Manager in IT. In August Wayne will celebrate 20 yrs. with the U.S. Navy reserves. Wayne was called up to active duty in 2007 and went to Iraq. Steve and Carolyn spent their time helping out Wayne's wife Nicole with the animals and Taylor. Wayne was awarded the Bronze star for his service in Iraq. Steve would say that the family was very fortunate and blessed that Wayne came home in one piece. He was also very proud of Wayne being commissioned as a United States Navy officer. Tricia was born 3 yrs, almost to the day, after Wayne. Steve's nickname for her was 'Magee'. She loved soccer but there was no way Steve was going to coach her in soccer but was very proud of everything she accomplished. He learned soccer over 10 yrs. watching her play and was known to be a very active participant on the sidelines and helping the coaches. Steve always believed the kids should try every sport they can and then he would let them decide what sports they wanted to play. One year he decided after being asked by Tricia and her friends to coach softball; he learned very quickly the difference between coaching girls and boys. The first time he told them they had to run a lap for messing around, he had some upset girls on his hands. He used to say, 'There is no crying in baseball'. Moving on, Tricia graduated from Horizon High School in 1994 as a Valedictorian of her class. From there Tricia went to the University of Colorado working full time buying her first house and finally graduating college in 2001 with a biology degree. Tricia and Chad met in high school where they dated for over 2 years and eventually married in 2000. Tricia got a job working for Coors Brewing Company in 2002 where she is still working to this day as a Quality Engineer. They have two sons, Dax who is 5 yrs. old and Cole who is 3 yrs. old. They currently live in Fort Lupton. I don't know if you noticed the pattern here but Steve and Carolyn went to school together and then married, Wayne and Nikki went to school and married then Tricia and Chad went to school and married. Steve would say, is this an inherited trait or what!! Last but not least is Amy. She was like an only child. She was born 9-1/2 yrs. after Tricia. It was like she had 4 parents to contend with but she made the most of it and was never lacking for attention. She played soccer and volleyball in high school. Steve never missed a soccer game and was known for pacing the sidelines cheering on his 'bud' as he called her as well as keeping the time for coaches. She graduated from Horizon High School in 2004 and went on to college at UNC in Greeley where she got a degree in Business. Currently she is working in the financial planning & analysis organization at Denver International Airport. She is also working on her MBA at CU Denver and hopes to graduate next year. She bought a house in Dacono where she resides today. Recently, Josh, Amy's boyfriend taught Steve to play cribbage which he thoroughly enjoyed. The four of them would sit for hours as Carolyn and Amy would beat Josh and Steve even if they claimed it never happened. Amy recently received a set of custom made golf clubs built by Steve that she will continue to put to good use. Amy is happy she got to spend last summer at Big Creek fishing and shooting guns with her father. Steve and Carolyn would say they are very lucky parents. Their children are always there when needed. They spent every birthday and holiday together either playing jarts in the back yard or Texas Hold'em inside. His family will truly miss him. Please share your memories of Stephen and condolences with his family by selecting the ""Sign Guestbook"" button below.