Denise Winters Pentico

As Denise Winters Pentico, 84, of Aurora, passed away on March 13, 2021, the sky she loved so much opened up and God reached down and took her hand.

She was born June 29, 1936 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, the daughter of George and Jo (Heberling) Winters.

She was a graduate of Steamboat Springs High School in 1952. She then attended Barnes School of Business in Denver and Lamson College in Phoenix, Arizona, eventually earning a Master's Degree.

Denise worked as one of the Chief Financial Officers for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 25 years, retiring in 1993. She then moved back to Colorado to be closer to her family.

Denise was a lady of many talents. In addition to her computation skills, which were so efficient and accurate that she would be a test subject for Texas Instruments calculators to see if they could keep up with her, Denise was a licensed multi-instrument IFR pilot. She was also a published author.

She was well-known for her boundless energy and caring and loving heart. Her passion to help everyone had no limits. Denise, together with her friend Elizabeth, spent many hours canning applesauce for the homeless. All in all, they canned over 300,000 cans of applesauce for the homeless. They also donated over 20,000 pairs of socks to the Denver Rescue Mission. She would volunteer her time at the St. Francis Center twice a week to help with the washing that needed to be done. In addition to this, she served as a volunteer at the Aurora Police Department for 21 years, logging 15,000 volunteer hours.

Denise was also a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Aurora where she was active with the Outreach Committee, the Can-do Project, the Vestry, served as a Eucharistic Minister and Eucharistic Visitor, the Pastoral Team caring for the sick or home bound parishioners and Daughters of The King Chapter at St. Stephen's.

Above all, she will be remembered as a loving mother and grandmother. She enjoyed the time she spent with her family. She was deeply loved and will be forever missed.

Denise is survived by two sons, Joseph S. Pentico and Christopher D. Pentico; 6 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by husband, Dean W. Hamm in 1992; father, George S. Winters; mother, Jo B. Winters.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your local chapter of the American Cancer Society in Denise's memory.

To share a memory of Denise or leave a special condolence message for her family, please visit the guestbook below.

Epitaph
Merrit Malloy

When I die
Give what's left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.
And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.

Look for me
In the people I've known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live on your eyes
And not on your mind.

You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands,
By letting
Bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.

Love doesn't die,
People do.
So, when all that's left of me
Is love,
Give me away.