Lois K. Lynch

Lois Kaye Lynch, née Knutson, 83, of Lakewood, Colorado, passed away on July 14, following a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

Lois was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1942 to Gladys Knutson, née Emerick, and Earl Martin Knutson. An only child, she grew up in Eagle Grove, Iowa, where she loved roller skating, ice skating, and music, playing both the saxophone and the piano. As a teenager, she and her family moved to Ames, Iowa, where she attended Ames High School.

Lois was a proud graduate of the University of Iowa, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1965. She went on to dedicate more than four decades to the nursing profession, building a career defined by exceptional clinical skill, calm leadership, and commitment to patients. She began her career at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver and Creighton Memorial Saint Joseph Hospital in Omaha, with work spanning intensive care and coronary care.

Lois met her future husband, Dan Lynch, at a Halloween party in Denver in 1968, while he was serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. His first memory of Lois was of her, still in her nursing uniform, making everyone laugh with dirty jokes. They married in 1969 and eventually settled in Lakewood, where they raised their family. They welcomed their son, Cameron, in 1972, and their daughter, Stacy, the following year. Lois and Dan were married for 52 years when he preceded her in death in 2021.

When her children were young, Lois stepped away from nursing. Always looking for a challenge, she founded her own custom skiwear company, Powder Country Skiwear, specializing in custom-fitted and custom-designed skiwear.

When she returned to nursing, she joined Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado, where she was a charge nurse in the Intensive Care Unit, working nights from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. for 28 years. She ran the Cor Zero team and saved many lives with her skill and calm under pressure. In 2012, she was featured on NPR’s StoryCorps, where she recounted a particularly harrowing episode involving the rescue of a new mother. Click here to hear that interview.

Her contributions to nursing extended beyond the bedside. She served on the design team when Swedish Medical Center built its award-winning Intensive Care Unit in 1991. From 1999 to 2007, Lois served on the Colorado State Board of Nursing, including as president from 2002 to 2007. She also served from 2006 to 2010 on the board of Caring for Colorado, a philanthropic organization devoted to expanding access to health care for underserved Coloradans. She retired in 2010.

Lois loved many things: her grandchildren, her dogs, her friends, her home, the Colorado Avalanche, Mexican food, and, back in the day, scotch and a cigarette. She lived her life independently—and sometimes stubbornly—right up to the end. She is loved and will be missed.

She is survived by her son, Cameron Lynch, and his partner, Holli Colburn, of Lakewood, Colorado; her daughter, Stacy Lynch, and son-in-law, Roger Slavens; and her two grandchildren, Isabel Slavens and Emerson Slavens, of Dunwoody, Georgia.