Cullen Mikael Pickens

He leaves a huge hole in the hearts of his family and friends who were always entertained by his hilarious sense of humor and obsession with any rock, fossil, or patch of dirt that caught his eye. Those of us who knew Cullen know that “hilarious” and “unforgettable” were a part of everyday life with him.

In true “hilarious” and “unforgettable” fashion, a doctor wearing a tuxedo, who was also running late to a New Years Eve party, delivered Cullen at the HCA Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City on December 31st, 1991 to Robert and Tammy Pickens.

From an early age he had a love of soccer and became a soccer referee as his first job when he was 12 years old. As he grew, so did his kindness, compassion, and willingness to serve others. He loved volunteering at The American Therapeutic Riding Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and participated in countless other volunteering events across his community. He would go on to graduate from Charles Page High School in 2010 and then to Oklahoma State University to pursue a Masters in Geology.

Before his graduation from OSU, he went to the Les Huston Geology Field Camp and fell in love with the beauty and wilds of Colorado. He moved to Loveland almost immediately after he received his Masters degree and began working as a hydrogeologist with Aestus LLC. His work with Aestus allowed him to feed his passions for travel and adventure, and his coworkers became some of his dearest and closest friends. It was through these same friends that he would meet the love of his life, Amanda Held.

Amanda and Cullen shared a passion for horses and cats, and would spend much of their time together with Amanda’s horse, Destiny, and at the NOCO Cat Cafe in Loveland. It was on one of their frequent visits to the Cat Cafe when they met and immediately fell in love with a cat named Marty. A short time after adopting Marty into their home, Cullen & Amanda were married in a small ceremony on June 24th, 2024 among their family and friends. Destiny, Marty, Amanda, and Cullen would go on to have many beautiful and happy days together before Cullen’s passing.

Cullen will always be remembered as a loving husband, cherished son, best of friends, and the best brother in the world. He is survived by his wife: Amanda Pickens, his father and mother: Robert and Tammy Pickens, his brother and sister: Cameron and Victoria Pickens, his and Amanda’s cat: Marty, their horse: Destiny, as well as countless other friends, teachers, and mentors. We will miss him very much and we will love and live our lives to the fullest in his honor and memory.

Services will be held at the Allnutt Funeral Service Hunter Chapel in Loveland, CO, on August 27th at 2 pm. For those unable to attend, a livestream will be setup and available to view at this link: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.ckpmediaservices.com/live__;!!M2D_dUfSiN4E!PbJdPjlalvS6l7R1i_qWM5I3PLCl1AVMswplI42GR4scBT1lVz9alkKDXF8QUCzfvyTgZci1yiXwar-NhgsLFeBHak8MLqv4Tw$

Cullen’s final act of kindness was to donate his eyes to give the gift of sight to someone in need. In lieu of flowers, and to honor his giving and adventurous spirit, we invite contributions to the “NOCO Cat Café”, “The American Therapeutic Riding Center”, and the “Les Huston Geology Field Camp” with the Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State University.