Harriet Lurye Gerstenberger

Harriet Gerstenberger, 99, passed away peacefully at home, in Denver on June 17, 2025. Preceded in death by her husband, Arlo Gerstenberger, and survived by her son, Steven (Judy) Gerstenberger, her daughter Diane (John) O'Dea, 5 grandchildren, Anna (Ben) Cote, Rosie (Paul) Britt, Linda (Pete) Nordlander, Jule (Aidan) O’Donovan, Louis (Halley Isberg) Gerstenberger, 6 great grandchildren, Arlo, John, and Ellison Nordlander, Paulie Britt, Nomi, and Harriet O’Donovan, a brother, Roger Ellison, and many other family members and friends.

A memorial service will be held on July 8, 2025 at 2:00pm at Olinger-Crown Hill 7777 West 29th Ave, Wheat Ridge.

Memorial contributions can be made to Springbrook Employee Fund, 6800 Leetsdale Dr, Denver, 80224 or to Optimal Hospice, 4380 S Syracuse St #455, Denver 80237, in Harriet’s loving memory.

Harriet was born in Giltner, Nebraska, the middle child of 13 siblings. The family moved to Carr, Colorado, when she was two years old. When Harriet was a Junior in High School, the family moved from Carr to Wildhorse, Colorado. Graduating from Kit Carson High School, she came to Denver to study hydraulics, pass the civil service exam, and work at Hill Field, Utah, for three years during World War II. From the age of four, she had dreamed of being a nurse, and in 1945 she returned to Denver to enter nurses training at Mercy Hospital. After graduation she was a private duty nurse for 20 years and was director of the nurses’ Official Registry for 10 years. One of her Mercy roommates introduced her to Arlo and they were married in 1949. They loved to travel and visited all 50 states and four continents. She loved music and also sang in church choirs. She was an enthusiastic sports fan and a terrific athlete. She started running 5k races at age sixty, and won many races in her age group, for well over a decade.