Dennis W. Kuhlmann

Dennis Kuhlmann, beloved husband and devoted father and grandfather, was born on September 3, 1940 in Montevideo, Minnesota to Gustav and Elise Kuhlmann. A first generation American with both parents having emigrated from Germany, Dennis grew up on the family farm with his older brother Robert and younger sister Louise. A rugged Minnesota upbringing gave him a solid appreciation for hard work and the joys of family, considering that the family did without electricity until he was 5 and only had indoor plumbing when the family moved into a new home when he was 11.

Dennis excelled in school and graduated as class valedictorian of Boyd High School in 1958. In school, his extracurricular activities included playing on the football and basketball teams, playing cornet in band and even learning to play the accordion. He left home to continue his education, attending South Dakota State University in nearby Brookings, majoring in Electrical Engineering. A popular student, “Ike” was elected class president during his sophomore year and fostered quite a few lifelong friendships. After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he began working under a Co-Op program with Honeywell in Minneapolis, but a newfound love of skiing inspired his decision to pursue a master’s degree at Colorado State University. Shortly after starting graduate school, he joined the St. John's choir in 1965, where he met Karen Johnson. The couple was married a year later on June 5, 1966 and shortly thereafter moved to the Twin Cities area, setting down roots in a beautiful townhome community and having three children, Christopher in 1968, Angela in 1974 and Kerrie in 1976.

Dennis’s engineering career with Honeywell focused in aerospace and military avionics, working on cutting edge technology for the U.S. armed forces. As a system engineer and program manager, he was afforded the opportunity to work on the country’s most advanced aircraft. In the mid 1980’s, his team was awarded a patent for the Integrated Helmet and Display Sight System, a transformative concept that allowed AH-64 Apache Helicopter pilots to use their helmet to visually track targets to engage and provide nap-of-the-earth night navigation. In subsequent years, he worked on recording systems for both Trident Missile submarines and commercial aircraft. Engineering proved to be both his vocation and his passion, as Dennis was never happier than tinkering around trying to figure out how things worked or how to fix a particularly vexing technical problem.

Dennis made every effort to balance work with faith and family life. As a dedicated Christian, he was always an active member in church, singing in the church choir and participating or teaching bible studies. As a devoted family man, he and Karen attended concerts, neighborhood parties and spent time canoeing on the many lakes in the area. His love of sports saw him playing in softball leagues where he was the church team’s pitcher and manager. And of course, being a Minnesotan he was familiar with the exquisite agony of being a loyal Vikings fan. Most importantly, he was always there for his children, whether it was patiently helping them with math homework, school projects or just to have a game of catch, shoot baskets, swim or play tennis.

In 1988, Dennis took a new position with Honeywell and had the opportunity to move the family to Colorado. The family enjoyed five years in Highlands Ranch, before another job transfer uprooted the family again to Albuquerque. This proved difficult because it separated the family between Colorado and New Mexico. Dennis ultimately retired from Honeywell in 2001 after more than 35 years of service. He took a brief consulting job in Belgium where he and Karen were able to experience life in Europe for a few months.

After returning stateside, he and Karen moved back to Colorado, settling in Castle Pines. This was a wonderful change in scenery as all three of their kids were living in the Denver area. Never one to ever sit still for even one minute, Dennis took on a year-long project to completely finish the basement of their new home. He became active in the community by volunteering as a Douglas County Republican Precinct Leader, utilizing his quiet but determined spirit to impact the local political scene. He also took a part time job at Karen’s favorite gift boutique, giving her a discount, but more importantly building a treasured friendship with the owners.

In late 2014, Dennis and Karen joyfully welcomed their first two grandchildren to the family, twins London and Logan. They assisted in caring for their grandchildren nearly every day until Karen was diagnosed with brain cancer. Despite being devastated, he took amazing care of her until she went to be with Jesus, February 4, 2016.

Dennis will be remembered by those closest to him as an indispensable figure, possessing quiet strength, patience and competence. He was the first person sought for assistance or advice. He loved a good project and worked tirelessly to complete it, only to begin another one. In his downtime, he cherished the time he spent with his family and friends. There was nothing he liked better than having the family over on Sundays for a Broncos game and dinner.

Dennis was taken to heaven all too soon on July 30, 2016. Dennis is preceded in death by his wife Karen, his mother Elise, and father Gustav. He is survived by his son Christopher, daughter and son-in-law, Kerrie and Christopher Brennan, daughter and son-in-law, Angela and Mark Lentell, and two grandchildren, London and Logan Lentell, brother and sister-in-law Robert and Shirley Kuhlmann and sister Louise Busse.