Delores Jean Vander Wal Dafoe

Delores Jean Vander Wal Dafoe passed away peacefully in her sleep in her apartment in the Christian Living Communities’ Holly Creek retirement home in Centennial, Colorado, on May 29, 2026, surrounded by family and friends. She died of complications of breast cancer after a very full 73 years of life.

Dee (or Iggy to her grandchildren, for Incredible Grandma) was raised in Hudsonville, Michigan and studied nursing at the University of Michigan. After a childhood full of camping trips to the beach with her friends, she showed the wanderlust and excitement for travel that would run through her whole life and set off on a long road trip after college with many friends. After working as a camp nurse in northern Michigan, she then worked with her dear childhood friend Debbie as a nurse at a hospital in Gallup, New Mexico, before they settled in Denver.

In Denver, Dee met her husband, Charles, and they raised their two children to share their love of travel and adventure. After their children left the house for college and jobs, there were many points when Dee and her two children were on three separate continents. But Dee never let that stop her from having full relationships with her family, visiting her children across the United States and in far-flung places like Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Tokyo. If not for her recent health issues, Dee likely would have been on the next plane to see her son in Brazil. Dee didn’t only travel to see family. She took the family on many trips when her children were young, often with other close family friends, and traveled with her own friends regularly. She didn’t allow a disappointing medical diagnosis to slow her down, taking trips to New Orleans, Washington DC, Shenandoah, and Florida. She even took a trip in December 2025 with her childhood friends Beth and Jane, visited her friend Bev in Albuquerque, and took a trip to Washington, DC in early April to see her children when they briefly lived in the same metro area for the first time in 23 years!

Dee studied law after arriving in Denver and was a well-respected expert in an obscure part of Medicare in her 15 years of practice after her children graduated high school before retiring. Dee was always a hard worker, but also an early advocate of a true work-life balance, achieved in her life by not working for 20 years during her children’s childhood years, and by fully enjoying her retirement.

Dee sang alto with the Colorado Choir and her dear friend Darlene for over 40 years, and only narrowly missed the May 8, 2026 concert due to her health. She played organ at Hope Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, and was a proud member of the Law Club, which performs songs for attorneys and judges annually. Through Law Club, Dee met her dear friend Hank, who provided much comfort and companionship to her, especially after losing her husband, Charles. Dee was an avid tennis player and bowler and spent nearly every morning in the pool swimming laps, even when the snow nipped around the edges of the Holly Creek pool! She had an amazing sense of humor, and a sense of determination that was hard to match.

She will be missed by so many, but especially by her daughter Kate (husband John), son Andrew (wife Miranda), and her granddaughters Claudia, Aila, Charlotte, and Maeve. She is survived by her brother David and his wife Bianca. Her parents, John and Jean Vander Wal, and her husband, Charles, preceded her in death.

Thank you to the staff at All Seasons Hospice and the residents and staff at Holly Creek for caring for her so well during her last days.

In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Colorado Choir or Hope Fellowship CRC. See links below.