Kathryn Mikkelsen "Kathy" Stern passed away with dignity on November 21, 2019, at Mercy Hospice House in Durango, Colorado.
Celebrating her life are her loving husband of 43 years, Mark E. Stern, M.D., Vascular General and Trauma Surgeon and former Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Mercy Medical Center, Durango CO. Surgical practice at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles, CA and Surgical Resident at the University of Southern California Medical Center; her sons Spencer William Roper (wife Erin Cummins Roper) and Brandon Jacob Stern; her daughters Kimberly Ann Stern and Lindsay Amber Stern; her grandchildren Madeline, Nolan, and Korah Roper from Durango, CO; and her sister Karen Mikkelsen from La Quinta, CA.
Preceding her in death are her loving son Erik David Stern, her parents William Peter Mikkelsen, M.D. and Margaret Kessel Mikkelsen from Los Angeles, CA, and her sister Christine Mikkelsen Chasey from Denver, CO.
Kathy was born March 14, 1948 in Spokane WA, grew up in Los Angeles, CA, and graduated from John Marshall High School in 1965 and Occidental College in 1969 in Los Angeles, CA.
She and her husband and children lived in La Canada Flintridge, CA until their relocation to Durango, CO in 1995. She was an avid English Equestrian, competing with her horses from KMS Farms in Bayfield, CO.
Her family wishes to thank the staff of the Mercy Hospice House for their caring attention to her needs during her final illness. Services will be private. To honor Kathy's memory, donations can be made to Mercy Health Foundation.
Her greatest devotion was to her family. Death ends a life, not a relationship.