Carol M. Mehlmann

Carol was born March 4, 1946 to Elizabeth (Betty) and Ellis (Huck) in Ridgewood, New Jersey. As the oldest of four children, Carol learned to love and care for others from an early age. As the daughter of the Vice President of Sales at Vanity Fair Inc., Carol inherently developed a lifelong love for fashion and style which she exuded beautifully. After being raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey the family uprooted to Chicago, Illinois where she attended New Trier High School.

A few years later, they moved back to Ridgewood. Growing up she spent summers in Bay Head, New Jersey, which is where she had wonderful memories with her dear friend Gretchen Van Emburgh. Carol attended Green Mountain College for a time when she decided to move to New York City. She lived at The Barbizon, which was her second home. Carol loved NYC - there she went to Katharine Gibbs and later joined John Powers Modeling Agency, where she was successful. Carol was a strikingly beautiful woman and her modeling portfolio was glorious. On top of being beautiful, Carol was also an extremely bright woman and had a fabulous career with Time Life Magazine. She chose to leave the company when she married Leigh Stevens and had her two beloved sons, Christopher and Taylor. Carol’s greatest joy was having her boys.

Carol and her two sons moved to Colorado in 1992 where she met her soulmate, best friend and husband of 28 years, Greg Mehlmann. Their paths fatefully crossed during the fall of 1993 when Greg was coaching Chris’ soccer team. Their connection was instantaneous and insurmountable. The two were married on November 26th, 1994 at Trinity Methodist Church in Denver, CO. Together they loved to travel and spent time in Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Venice, Paris, London, Monte-Carlo, Maui and their beloved Hilton Head Island. Carol and Greg loved to play golf together and often her boys would join for a family Sunday golf outing.

Carol spent 23 years working as an Executive Assistant for Kaiser Permanente’s Executive Medical Director, Associate Medical Director and the Colorado Medical Group Board. Carol also planned large events for Kaiser throughout the years and made a lasting impact. Saying that everyone at Kaiser knew Carol is not an over statement. After retiring from Kaiser in 2019, she decided to go back to work at Global Medical Response as an Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Accounts Payable. Carol was not one to “sit around.” She enjoyed keeping busy and the company of others. She officially retired in January of 2022. She spent the remainder of her life doing what she loved the most, being the best grandmother (Mimi) imaginable to Ariana, Scott and Jack.

Family meant everything to Carol. She was incredibly proud of her children and their families. She never missed an opportunity to share that pride, often posting photos and telling her friends about family achievements. It is impossible to convey just how much she loved each of her three grandchildren. She spent every Saturday with them, playing games, laughing, and chasing them all over the house. She enjoyed spoiling them, taking them places and cheering them on from the sidelines. As a mother to her own children, Carol was incredibly supportive and present. She always made herself available as a lending ear, a respected advisor, and a safe place for comfort and support. She and Greg loved hosting family dinners at Christmas and Thanksgiving as well as organizing a family trip to Hilton Head for a beach vacation. It was no coincidence that Carol approached her personal life similar to her professional life in which she was always serving. Carol was a true caregiver and her family appreciated and relied on their “Mimi” a lot. In the end, her greatest joy and happiness was knowing that those around her were well taken care of and felt loved.

When Carol wasn’t busy taking care of others, she loved spending time with close friends, shopping, traveling, playing golf, going to kick boxing, getting her hair and nails done, watching movies and was an avid reader. Carol was a “social butterfly” and there was never an invitation she’d turn down. In addition, she also loved coordinating and planning social events. She was the Social Director for Turnbury-Birkdale townhomes and eagerly planned all of their weekly happy hours particularly during the summer months.

Carol enjoyed soaking in the sunshine and she herself was a bright ray of light to all who were blessed to be in her presence. We hope her dear friends and family can find peace and rejoice in knowing that her light will always shine down on you.

Carol is survived by her adoring husband, Greg Mehlmann; her children, Chris (JoAnn) Stevens and Taylor (Amanda) Stevens; grandchildren, Ariana (6), Scott (5), Jack (3); her siblings, Marilyn (Rafael) Triana and Elizabeth (Chickie) Minrath; sister in law, Kathy Mehlmann; step son, Nick Ames.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Elizabeth and Ellis Minrath and sibling, Richard Minrath.