Kelly Michelle Yarish

Kelly Michelle Yarish, 56, passed away July 11.  Kelly was born in Borger, Texas, hence her statement that she was "a dreaded Texan but only for three years!"  Kelly moved on to Casper, Wyoming, and then to Brighton, Colorado, her home for more than 40 years. 
She was a 1986 graduate of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, earning a baccalaureate in bioscience.  The summer of 1985, she met Steve and hooked him, she said, with chocolate chip cookies. They married Christmas Eve, 1986 in front of the Denver City & County Building, festively lit for the holidays and their wedding. Kelly was a billing agent for more than 15 years for Surgical Consultants in Denver.
Kelly was well-known for her love of dogs. She began raising Cardigan Welsh Corgis in her teens and later concentrated on beagles, breeding and showing them. Kelly was very involved in the dog show world, participating in a variety of activities including agility, obedience, tracking and conformation. She was the co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Beagle Club. In 1994, she served as Show Chairman of the first National Beagle Club Specialty in the Rocky Mountain region at Silver Creek. She attended many nationals in great locations, including Aldie, Virginia, Sturbridge, Massachusetts, Allentown, Pennsylvania, Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, Indianapolis, Charleston, South Carolina, and Vancouver Washington.
A dedicated volunteer, Kelly served on the board of directors of the Brighton Charter School and was a member of the school's booster club. The Terry-All Kennel Club benefited for more than 30 years from her services as show chairwoman, agility chair, trophy chair and delegate to the National American Kennel Club. Whatever Kelly did, she was a damn hard worker.
As a member of the Brighton Breakfast Lions, she worked for its KidSight program, the scholarship committee and other fundraising activities. She and Steve were four-time hosts for exchange students for Sister Cities, Lions Club International and Rotary International, Brighton Chapter.
Kelly was a passionate and longtime fan of the Colorado Rockies, attending more than 70 games since the club started play. Her favorite players were Andres Galarraga, (the Big Cat), Yorvit Torrealba (Kelley even named one of her beagles after him) and, most recently, Trevor Story. She attended the game at Coors Field when Trevor hit his first walk-off home run.
Kelly was a devoted mom to son Nick and daughter-in-law Jessie with all the duties thereof; affectionate "sistah" to all her in-laws, and as Steve's wife, always totally supportive and loving.
With Steve, Kelly traveled extensively throughout the continental U.S., visiting 40 states. Kelly developed her photography skills, taking hundreds of photographs. They loved to see new places and said they "never met a brown sign they didn't like."
A party celebrating Kelly and her life is planned from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, Barr Lake State Park Nature Center
In lieu of flowers, please send a contribution, in Kelly's name to:
International Hearing Dog, 5901 E. 89th Ave., Henderson 80640; 
Colorado Lions Foundation, PO Box 6305, Aurora; or 
AMBRNET (beagle rescue) c/o Jessica Parker, treasurer, 2117 Charmaine Court, Marietta, Georgia 30062.
Tabor-Rice Funeral Home handled the arrangements.