Cynthia Cora "Tica" Mccollom

Our wonderful, smart, and sassy mom, Cynthia "Tica" McCollom, passed away on September 27th, 2023, from complications of a stroke. She was a very young 78 years old and was surrounded by her loving family who played her favorite music in her last moments, something we're sure her soul was dancing to!

Tica was born on July 19th, 1945, and lived in New Orleans, LA before moving to Denver, CO with our dad Charles "Mac" McCollom in 1967. She was an Administrative Assistant at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center until her retirement in 2000, and was known for having a plethora of office toys and games on her desk for coworkers to play with when they came to talk to her. Her friends loved her playful personality and her refusal to take anything too seriously.

Tica loved her family more than anything in the world, and we loved her back even more. She was a huge fan of tearjerker movies, Mel Brooks comedies, our menagerie of dogs and cats that we always had growing up, cooking up amazing meals for anyone who appreciated them (and everyone did), reading everything from novels to humor to nonfiction about the history of the English language because she was the original Grammar Policewoman, listening to music by Jimmy Buffet, Eva Cassidy, New Orleans blues, and oldies from the 1950s, and most of all, traveling to anyplace that had beaches, hot sunshine, and plenty of sangria.

She was the most selfless, generous, loving mother and wife anyone could ever have, and we will miss her dearly. Our mom wasn't perfect by any means -- we inherited her penchant for stubbornness! -- but her imperfections only served to make her perfect.

Tica is survived by her two children, Scott (married to Laura), Shawna (married to another Scott), her granddaughters Talia and Alyssa, grandson Dylan, her sister Betsy, and her niece Susy and nephew Robi. She was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Charles "Mac" McCollom, our dad who passed away in 2017 and was the love of her life.