Shae Rochelle Martinez, 51 of Frederick, Colorado, Passed away on Sunday, November 27, 2022, at Tru Community Hospice Care in Longmont, Colorado. She was at peace, surrounded by her loving family and friends.
Born in Osage, Iowa June 22, 1971 to Terri & Jerry White, Shae and her parents lived in Mason City Iowa with all her grandparents and many of her aunts, uncles, and cousins living nearby.
In February 1974 at 2½, Shae and her parents moved to Greeley, Colorado packed into a small Triumph TR 250 sports car with Shae's bicycle tied to the trunk lid luggage rack, and a small homemade trailer in tow, containing all their worldly possessions. Shae loved the 'road trip' and was always smiling. Her mother called her "Shaesy Baby Wonder Girl."
As a three year old, Shae freely passed out her smiles and was a happy, gentle, and caring child with a self-directed independent spirit who could be quite self-willed at times. After having a 'difference of opinion' with her parents, at three years old, she packed her pajamas, socks, and jeans into a paper sack, said goodbye to Mommy and Daddy and left the house, swaggering across the yard, some articles falling from her sack, heading for her "favorite" family's house in the neighborhood where she "would rather" live.
Shae was a kid with a great imagination and an interest in many things She would create songs, stories, and poems with friends. Shae loved the movie, The Wizard of Oz, and would watch it on TV every February. We removed a mirror from the wall in her room because in the dark, at bedtime, she was scared. She said, ''The monkeys in the mirror are looking at me." We were surprised that her companion became a worn & torn stuffed monkey she named Buttons, given to her by her mom. Shae passed Buttons to her daughter, Jaxon, so Buttons remains, worn & torn, in the family.
"I enjoy snow skiing more than anything in the world" were the words Shae entered in her "Some Moments of Childhood" scrapbook. Shae skied often in Colorado with her mom and dad. Winter Park, Loveland Pass, and Eldora were close and the ski trips were funded by coins collected in a ceramic urn. She loved that urn for what it meant to her in anticipation of the next ski trip. Her scariest ski moment was when her sleeve caught-up on the T-bar lift and carried her around the lift support pole, hanging by her ski jacket!
Shae liked to visit her grandparents in Iowa. She and her parents made the road trip often. Shae was very excited when, at seven years old, she flew to Iowa "all by myself!" As a seasoned flyer, she later flew alone on a trip to visit her friend living in San Diego.
Shae liked to read. One of her favorites was the 'The Little House on the Prairie' children's novels, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, based on her childhood in the American Midwest from 1870-1894. Shae watched all the episodes on TV.
She enjoyed playing piano, flute, and piccolo. She liked her dance lesson, and performed at the Greeley Children's Theatre. Singing, writing poems, and acting were her favorite things to do. She also liked bowling and competed in a Junior Bowlers State Tournament in Colorado Springs. Shae loved to go roller-skating at Waranoco with her friends. Riding her bike with mom and dad, destined to stop at Baskin & Robbins or Dairy Queen along the way, was fantastic! She also loved going to movies. Star Wars and ET were at the top of her liked the most list. With her popcorn, she liked to have a pickle.
Shae had five hamsters, two gerbils, tropical fish, a dog named 'Puppy', and 'Elliot' the cat. Elliot was a stray who followed her home from school and decided to stay. He had a calm presence and was loved. He was Shae's Elliot for several years. When he died, it was very sad for Shae. She wrapped him in her favorite blue & coral jacket and laid him under the white birch tree. While crying, she tried to get God to bring Elliot back. Then, with her mom and dad, she buried Elliot, under the white birch tree, wrapped in her blue & coral jacket. She buried him while it rained. All three of them were soaking wet and crying.
At age four, Shae started her primary education at the Montessori School in Greeley, Colorado. She attended first grade at the Waldorf School in Greeley. The remainder of her elementary and her middle schooling was in Greeley with Weld County District 6.
In second grade, the PEAK (Personalized Enrichment and the Advancement of Knowledge) program testing determined Shae to be a gifted & talented student, and she was entered into the program for its duration.
Shae graduated from Greeley Central High School in 1989. She attended and also worked for Colorado State University for a year in Fort Collins, Colorado. She then quit college, stuffed her Nissan-Datsun 280-Z sports car to the roof with all her belongings, and drove herself to Daytona Beach, Florida. She loved the road trips. Shae shared a place to live with a high school friend and her longtime childhood friend, Brian. She returned to Colorado where she and Gary Hendershot were married in 1991. Gary, who also grew-up in Greeley, Colorado, was an airman in the USAF. They lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado where Gary was stationed at Cheyenne Mountain. They brought their first child, Andrew, into the world August 12, 1992 at the USAF Academy Hospital. Shae and Gary moved to McGuire Air Force Base, and lived in base housing, when Gary was re-stationed in 1994.
Shae's experience in educational administration began in Cherry Hill, New Jersey where she was the Principal at Kid's Academy Learning Center that offered pre-school and kindergarten classes. Gary served at McGuire Air Force Base nearby. Andrew attended preschool and received his kindergarten classes at Kid's Academy. He said that if he misbehaved , he was sent to his "mom's" office!
They brought their second child, Jaxson, into the world August 8, 1997, in nearby Willingboro, New Jersey. They returned to Colorado in August of 1998. Jaxson spent her first birthday on the road without a birthday cake. This just didn't seem right so when they stopped for dinner, on her first birthday, Jax received a cupcake with one candle, at 'Denney's'!
Back in Colorado, they lived in Greeley where Shae worked as a mother of two children and as a security monitor for Northridge High School in Weld County School District 6.
Shae began taking college courses in finance and accounting and also worked as a substitute teacher coordinator for Weld County School District 6. In 2002 she became an accountant for District 6.
In 2007 she moved to Aurora Public Schools as an accountant and in 2009 moved to Mapleton Public Schools where she worked in finance and became the Chief Financial Officer. She was a strong advocate for Mapleton's 'small school reform model.'
In 2019, she became Executive Director of Budget and Finance at Adams County School District 14.
While attending a school related event in Washington D.C., she texted photos showing how much she was enjoying her work. She was happy and smiling.
On the return trip to Colorado, Shae was not feeling well. When the flight reached the airport, she had to be taken from the plane by her daughter, Jaxon, and rushed to a hospital intensive/critical care unit suffering from a blockage to her kidney that later resulted in septic shock. After release from the hospital, Shae was no longer physically able to return to the profession that she "truly loved."
Shae loved working in Mapleton and Adams 14 school districts. She spoke often about the good friends and people she worked with in the school environment from Weld County District 6, Aurora Public Schools, Mapleton, and Adams 14. Working in the primary/secondary education systems, Shae became skilled in public finance and non-profit organizations, budgeting, analysis, and managerial finance. She was a strong finance professional.
Shae graduated Suma Cum Laude, in the summer of 2007, with her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from Regis University. In 2013, she graduated from Concordia University – River Forest with her Master of Business Administration degree in Public Finance.
She was later nominated for a doctorate scholarship at Colorado University – Denver and taught public finance and management related classes at Regis University.
Shae was an active member of a number of primary/secondary school and financial related organizational groups including: a Director at Colorado Association of School Business Professionals where she was unanimously elected Director at Large; Colorado Association of School Business Officers; Financial Policies and Procedures Committee – for all Colorado school districts; Organization of Business Professionals, where she was a Board Member; Colorado Finance Officers Association; Chief Financial Officer Network – #1 Exec Finance Group; Friends of Public Finance; Finance Plus: Private Equity, Venture Capital and M&A News; Chief Financial Officer; and Rotary Club.
Shae was a member of Court Appointed Social Advocates where she advocated for a four year old girl whose mother was suffering from addiction.
Shae's husband Jeremy, who is an engineer with the Union Pacific Railroad, also grew-up in Greely, Colorado. He remembers seeing Shae playing, as a kid, and thinking that he would one day marry her. As adults they met by chance in 2007 and began singing together in local contests. They were together for over a year when in November of 2008, Jeremy asked Shae to marry him. Shae's happiness was quite obvious in her seasonal 2008 Christmas Holliday Letter They were married July 11, 2009 at St. Mark Catholic Church in Westminster, Colorado and spent their honeymoon in Cancun.
Their families came together and Shae said they all, Shae with her children, and Jeremy with his children; Tyler, Shelby, and Skyler Martinez, got along ,very well while living in Westminster, and Thornton, Colorado.
Shae and Jeremy shared their love for singing and have continued to sing together since 2007. They won several contests through the years.
Shae loved Jeremy. She said, "Jeremy is the forever love of my life. No other could possibly love me like he does."
Shae loved travel and adventure. Her favorite place was Cancun where she had vacationed several times. She and her family swam with the dolphins at Isla Mujeres. They all climbed the 91 steps at the Mayan pyramid temple at Chichen Itza!
She and Jeremy had a great time riding a zip line with friends when they vacationed together in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
She white water rafted the raging waters of the Royal Gorge on the Arkansas River in Colorado and also the Cache la Poudre and Colorado rivers. Rafting the Cache la Poudre is where she got her white water wings as a seven year old!
She described motorcycle rides as a blast. She enjoyed a cruise to the Bahamas.
Her dream vacation was to one day travel to her roots in Italy, with her mom Terri, daughter Jaxon, and sister Anna.
Mothers' Days were a time that Shae enjoyed hikes on the Colorado mountain trails with her mother, daughter, and sister . They had good times and they have a picture of a coiled rattlesnake they encountered on one of their adventures!
Shae was fond of gambling. Friends and family will attest that she was pretty good at black jack and roulette. She loved excursions to Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek. These towns are known for their casinos in the Colorado mountains.
Celebrating her family's twenty first birthdays in Las Vegas was a point of pride for Shae. She enjoyed these events with her sister, daughter, and daughter-in law Tiana. To add to the enjoyment, Shae always planned to see her son Andrew and his family when she was in Las Vegas for one of these cherished events. Her son is a USAF Tech Sargent who was stationed near Las Vegas.
For the last six years, Shae's grandchildren have been at the top of her love list. She longed to visit and spend time with Landon and Addison. On one occasion she signed herself out of the hospital and flew to their home in Alamogordo, New Mexico!
She was so excited to hear that her son and his wife Chelsea were expecting another child, Nathan James, due May 20th, 2023.
Shae loved to get family & friends together for parties. She and Jeremy hosted some goo – ood Superbowl parties! Good food and good friends.
We all loved her get-togethers with her great turkey and the best chicken noodle soup and chili on this earth. Her hot, creamed, French-cut string bean dish, was so delicious. And of course, warm cinnamon rolls. Jeremy's slow cooked barbequed ribs, were at the top of her, and everyone's wow list. His grilled bratwurst and hamburgers deserve an honorable mention. Shae would often ask her mother-in-law Mary Martinez to make her incredible tamales so she could stockpile them in her freezer. Mary's tamales were the family's treasured treat. Shae loved coconut cream and chocolate cream pies and her favorite cake was German chocolate, with a little bit of milk. She had a taste for lobster, cannolis, casabas, and let's not forget Starbucks! She craved salt water taffy. This obsession may have begun as a kid when she and her mom and dad stopped at the taffy pull shop in Boulder, Colorado. The downtown Boulder Mall and Estes Park were two of her favorite places to spend time.
End of summer birthday parties for her children and family, which included good food and volleyball at the park, were some of the times she truly cherished.
The Trevor Noah Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, 90210, old episodes of Friends and The Sopranos were some of her favorite programs.
Shae was hands on involved in her children's lives. She wanted them to experience what their interests were and when she signed them up for an activity, she signed up. She was a dedicated supporter for all their activities including soccer, football, baseball, Greeley Coral chorus productions, Cub Scouts, school musicals, and theatre. She did not miss a game, or production and was present for all her children's events.
Shae loved her mother and was very involved and concerned when her mother had serious surgery and needed help. She and her sister Anna provided the help.
Her sister held a special place in her heart. In 1987, Shae helped a midwife with the birth of her sister, Anna. As a teenager in high school she was very present in her brother and sister's lives. She was responsible and helpful to her mother in taking care of their needs.
When Shae was a child, she would often ask for a sister. She said that if she got a sister, she promises to take care of her. Her sister meant so much to her, and she cherished their relationship.
Shae's best loved pet was her dog 'Jake,' a Boston terrier pug mix, who was given to her, as a tiny pup, by a dear friend. Jake was with her family for many years. It was very difficult for her when Jake became terminally ill. His ashes remained on the mantle in her home.
Shae had no fear. She stood for her progressive convictions and she lived those beliefs. She was passionate in expressing her views, ideas, and opinions – if you knew Shae, you 'knew' Shae. Anything she put her mind to, would get done. She was a rub some dirt on it, be strong, and get through it gen-xer. She took care of things – and she took care of her loved ones. If family or friend needed a place and time to get life issues in order, Shae would offer her home as a refuge.
She was a caring, compassionate, and at times, a fierce force in life – someone you wanted on your side. To acquiesce was not in her character. As her own counsel, Shae ran her life as she chose – always present, for the whole journey.
Shae was a go to for good conversation. Always engaged, She was challenging, and considerate, with a passion that could be intense. However, her smile, passed down from her mom, could warm your heart and brightened your day.
Shae had regrets in life and was not afraid to contemplate and confront them. She was vulnerable in her struggle with anxiety and self-doubt. She spoke often about what she admitted was her 'not so fun' side and that she was not always aware of the gravity of her words or actions.
While in an intensive care unit and having a second bout with septic shock, that took her life, the only words that she could speak were "I'm sorry." So strong and resilient, but vulnerable to the ever increasing weight of life. Sorry for those loved ones she may have hurt.
Shae lived a full and good life. She fought hard and long to win a battle that limited her time with us. She called herself the comeback kid because she had been in intensive/critical care so many times.
Shae said that she was so thankful for the healthcare people who treated and took care of her over many years, although she was very opposed to being in a hospital. Shae hoped, that when her time came, family and friends would come together and have a good time in celebration of her life.
Keeping her in their hearts, Shae is survived by her husband Jeremy Martinez her son Andrew Hendershot (Chelsea); her daughter Jaxon Pierce-Hendershot (Tiana); her grandson Landon Hendershot; her granddaughter Addison Hendershot; her soon to be grandson Nathan Hendershot; her sister Anna Prybylski; her stepson Tyler Martinez; her stepdaughter Shelby Martinez; her stepson Skyler Martinez; her mother Terri White; her father Jerry White; aunts, uncles, cousins, and good friends.
You were only just getting started. Thank you, Shae, for always being Shae – the whole journey – an incredible loving force in our lives. We suffer the loss of you and honor the memory of what you have given us. With your beautiful eyes, please check our horizons, and keep the skies blue for us. We know you will. You always have.
Remember to hold family and friends close. Establish a bond with those family and friends who have gone before. Life and death exist side by side.
Thank you to all who have given their gentle sympathy and will come together to have a good time in celebration of Shae's life.
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