Michele Bouchard

Michele, better known as Mike, passed away after a long illness surrounded by family in her home in Denver, Colorado on October 25, 2021. She was born in Western Massachusetts on November 16, 1940 to Ray and Jeannette Connors. Due to her father’s career, the family relocated to the Los Angeles, California area when Mike was a young teen. There, she met her loving husband, Tom Bouchard, at age 15 during a chance encounter and they were inseparable for the next 64 years.

Mike was a diligent and successful student at Immaculate Heart High School and Mount St. Mary’s College. Her Catholic faith was her rock throughout her life. She graduated from college with her Nursing degree in 1962. Mike and Tom were married at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, in Torrance, California on June 30, 1962. Mike was a surgical nurse and thrived in the fast paced, highly stressful environment. It was the perfect preparation for her role as the mother to five daughters – all born within eight years of each other.

During the 1970’s Tom’s career took the family back and forth across the country several times. Eventually, the family settled in rural Connecticut where the corporate life met country life. Mike tamed and nurtured gardens, decorated their homes, and cared and loved her children and a menagerie of pets. She served on the Town’s Library Board, and later in life was on the Litchfield Garden Club and the Susan B. Anthony Board of Directors.

After a brief, but highly impactful four years in the Denver area for Tom’s career from 1990-1994, Mike and Tom returned to New England in 1995 for Tom’s final career change and the start of retirement. As age and health-related issues advanced, Tom and Mike returned to Denver in the mid 2000’s to be more centrally located to their daughters and closer to the medical care Tom especially needed.

Always stylish and loving, Mike was a devoted wife, mother, friend, grandmother, great-grandmother, and philanthropist. She was an accomplished reader, organizer, lifelong learner, and cook. She is survived by her five daughters, their husbands, 13 grandchildren and one great grandson. She is pre-deceased by her parents, a sister, many family friends, brothers in law, and most significantly, the love of her life, Tom. Mike will be deeply missed.

The Mass of the Resurrection for Mike will be held November 19, 2021, at 1 p.m. at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 2626 E 7th Avenue Parkway, Denver CO 80206.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Berkley Hospice, 10697 E Dartmouth Ave #2616, Aurora, CO 80014 or Little Sisters of the Poor, 3629 West 29th Ave., Denver, CO 80211.