Neil Alan Sandven

Neil Alan Sandven was born May 23,1954 to Neil Amber Sandven and Kathleen (Day) Sandven of Hudson, Wisconsin. Neil was preceded in death by his father, his mother and his sisters, Kathleen Sandven of New Richmond, Wisconsin and Nancy (Sandven) Niles and her husband Donald Niles of Brainerd, Minnesota.

He is survived by his wife, Themia Elane (Despotopulos) Sandven, their children; Christopher Harry Sandven and Katharine Demetria (Sandven) Brent son-in law, Zachary Brent and grandchildren, Justin Alan Brent, William Christoper Brent and Michael Nicholas Brent, who will deeply miss his presence and his unyielding support. Neil is also survived by his sister in-law, Susan Despotopulous of Lafayette, Colorado, his cousin, Ann Dugan (Stacy), her husband Patrick Stacy of Boulder, Colorado, and their children and grandchildren, cousin Tom Dugan, and cousin Gary Johnson. His legacy lives on through the countless lives he touched and the lessons he imparted.

In his early life, Neil loved spending summers with his cousins at the lake in Minnesota, golfing with his Dad and skiing in the winter. Neil graduated from Hudson High School in 1972 with honors. After high school, he attended college and worked at the 3M facility in Minneapolis.

Neil moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado at age 19 to ski and also worked as an auto mechanic. Neil was a beautiful skier and very competitive at ski racing. He was on the US Ski team and tracked to Canada to heli-ski the Bugaboos.

In 1981, Neil moved to Boulder, Colorado and began working at the United Parcel Service facility in Denver Colorado. He started out at UPS as a package sorter and eventually advanced to a sales manager position with UPS where he remained until his retirement after 33 years of service. Neil received many awards for his sales work and was accomplished sales manager for UPS. Neil received his B.A. in Marketing from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. On June 17th, 1984 Neil and Themia married at the Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in June.

Neil’s favorite moments were spending time with his friends and family. He loved pulling the children around behind his boat on tubes and wakeboards. He was an excellent golfer and loved playing golf with his friends at Highland Hills Golf Course and many others. He also enjoyed many wonderful family vacations, walks and hikes with his wife and children, and he loved to watch golf with his son.

Neil was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2017. He battled the disease valiantly and lived many courageous years. He was cared for by an excellent support team at the University of Colorado Anschutz, including Richard Shulik, M.D., S. Lindsey Davis, M.D. and many others.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 16th, 2024, at Broomfield United Methodist Church, where friends and family are invited to join us in honoring Neil’s life.