Sallie June Spath

Sallie June Perry was born in Pueblo, Colorado on January 6, 1934 to parents Cecilia (“Sallie”) Boyer and Logan (“Tobe”) Perry. They named their first-born daughter Sallie June after the main character in her mother’s favorite 1928 novel entitled April and Sally June by Margaret Piper Chalmers. Cecilia and Logan had two more children, both girls, making Sallie June the eldest to her middle sister, Toby Jean, and to her youngest sister, Carol Jane.

Sallie graduated from Central High School of Pueblo in 1952 and was subsequently employed as a telephone operator at Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company of Pueblo.

When Sallie was a freshman in high school, she met Charles Lee Spath (“Chuck”) by way of an impromptu introduction by mutual friends. Although Chuck was four years older than Sallie and was attending Pueblo’s other high school, Centennial HS, Sallie and Chuck immediately liked each other and dated for the better part of that year until Sallie broke off their romance shortly after Chuck left Pueblo to attend Colorado University in Boulder, CO (now The University of Colorado). When Chuck came back to Pueblo for summer work between his Junior and Senior years at CU, he and Sallie ran into each other on the street after Chuck had finished his daily shift laying railroad ties for Pueblo’s railroad yard and Sallie had completed her shift at the telephone company. Thereafter, and with more serious intention, Sallie and Chuck resumed their romantic relationship and were married in a formal evening wedding ceremony on October 24, 1953. They were married for 43 years until Chuck’s death from cancer in 1996. Sallie never remarried, and for 29 years as Chuck’s surviving widow, she fervently missed and actively grieved for Chuck until her own passing on September 23, 2025. In death, Sallie and Chuck are now finally reunited for all time.

Sallie and Chuck Spath had two daughters, Kimberlee and Karen. They purchased a home in Arvada, Colorado where they raised their two girls. Sallie resided in that same home for 55 years.

Up until their daughters were teenagers, Sallie’s profession was solely as wife and homemaker while Chuck worked outside the home, first at Butler Paper Company in Pueblo, then at American Sanitary Supply Company in Denver. When Chuck decided to start his own business, Charles L. Spath & Company, in a home office in their basement, Sallie’s profession expanded to performing all secretarial/administrative duties of the new business, working alongside Chuck for 32 years. Together, they built a lucrative business representing/selling the products of 10 major corporate janitorial supply companies throughout eight states in the Western U.S.

In addition to raising their daughters and working in their own business, Sallie and Chuck spent many years raising West Highland White Terriers for show at regional American Kennel Club dog shows. Although they showed five purebreds, only one of their dogs became an AKC champion, and the Spath household was very full with four people and six beloved dogs, which consisted of the 5 show “Westies” and a mutt.

In addition to being a wife, a working mother, and a show dog owner, Sallie also volunteered at Lutheran Hospital (Wheat Ridge, CO) in the birth center taking pictures of the newborns, assembling “New Parent” gift bags to send home with the new families, and for 30 years, Sallie savored her interactions with the new babies and their families, greeting them all with adoring smiles and loving send-offs.

Sallie was unselfishly generous and devoted to helping her family members, and while many of her friendships were life-long friendships, Sallie still had room for new friends, catching up on all the happenings in the lives of those she loved and cared for. With her ever interested listening ear, sometimes coupled with providing financial “boosts” of support for loved ones she felt desperately needed her help, she found great pleasure and gratification in seeking to make better the lives of the people who mattered to her. One such example of Sallie’s great love occurred when her older daughter, Kimberlee, was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Kim’s prognosis of survival was dire as her doctors in Texas expressed they had exhausted all treatment options available to them to help Kim further. In response, Sallie and Kim’s sister, Karen, convinced Kim to relocate to Denver to have access to clinical trial treatments offered by the Oncology Department of the UC Anschutz Medical Campus, hoping to prolong Kim’s life. When Kim arrived in Denver, Sallie gifted her treasured home of 55 years to Kimberlee, and Sallie (herself) moved into an independent senior apartment so that Kim could fight cancer in the secure surroundings of the home she grew up in. Again, this was only one of the examples of when Sallie stepped up to help those she loved, but there were many other such acts of selflessness and great sacrifice throughout the years of Sallie’s life.

During the months-long shut-down throughout our country due to COVID-19, Sallie moved from her senior apartment into the home of her daughter, Karen, and son-in-law, John, to escape the quarantine policy of her apartment facility. As a mother with an imminently terminal daughter, Sallie needed to spend time with Kimberlee before cancer claimed her daughter’s life.

For close to two years after Kim’s passing, Sallie lived with Karen and John in their home until her arthritis and fibromyalgia advanced to the stage that Sallie felt she needed to move into an assisted living facility. For 3 years, and up to the date of her death, Sallie resided in assisted living at The Peaks at Old Laramie Trail in Lafayette, CO.

In life, Sallie loved animals, especially dogs. She was an enthusiastic pro-football fan, and she spent hour upon hour each day with a book in her hand until she discovered using her Kindle was the way to download any mystery story or historical fiction novel she wanted to read. She loved to laugh at good jokes and corny jokes alike, comedy sketch routines, and funny movies, yet she was very moved by serious dramas on television and in movies.

Sallie is pre-deceased by her parents and grandparents, her husband Charles Lee Spath, her oldest daughter Kimberlee Perri (Spath) Leal, and her sister/ kindred spirit, Toby Jean (Perry) Lamb.

Sallie is survived by her younger daughter, Karen (Spath) Rudisill, her beloved son-in-law of 49 years, John Rudisill, her remaining living sister, Carol (Perry) Klipfel, and two grandchildren, Elizabeth (Rudisill) James and Daniel Rudisill. She is also survived by three great-grandchildren, Landen and Aria Rudisill and Jaxon James, cherished nieces and nephews, and many friends.

In honor of Sallie’s wishes, she did not want a memorial service, so no service is to be scheduled. Instead, Sallie wanted those who knew and loved her to remember her uniquely and personally in their own thoughts and memories of her. In the end, Sallie had two wishes for the end of her life—to be quickly and painlessly reunited with her husband, Chuck, hand in hand for eternity, and to be free from her advancingly arthritic body of daily, debilitating pain. In God’s mercy, Sallie was granted her two wishes, and we are happy for her.

In lieu of flowers, Sallie wished donations would be sent to St. Jude’s Research Hospital for Children, citing her name, in remembrance of her life.