Doris Wahlert

Doris Wahlert, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, and friend to many, passed away at age 91 at Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center on February 11, 2026. She was the wife of Fred Wahlert who preceded her in death in 2022.

Always devoted to her Christian faith and family, Doris was born in Merino, Colorado, to Fred and Mary Brunkhardt on November 2, 1934, the second daughter of five sisters. Baptized on December 16, 1934, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sterling, Colorado, and confirmed on March 21, 1948, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hillrose, she attended and graduated from Hillrose School, where she was the valedictorian of the Class of 1952.

Doris learned sacrifice at an early age. She had planned to attend college on an awarded scholarship from Colorado State College of Education to become a high school teacher, but family needs took precedence. Not long after her graduation, her mother suffered an extended illness which necessitated her staying home on the farm to care for her three younger sisters who were still in school.

About a year afterward, Doris moved to Denver where a good friend lived as well as her older sister, and she was employed at the Labor Finance Industrial Bank housed in the historic Tabor Building. It was while living in Denver that she became reconnected with Fred Wahlert, who had also grown up in the Hillrose area and was living and working in Denver after having served in the Korean War. They were engaged in September 1954 and married on December 11, 1954, at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Denver.

Their daughter Amy was born in 1956. In 1958 they left Denver to return to the Hillrose area and live near family and farm between Hillrose and Brush. Their son Neil was born in 1959. They continued to live and farm there until 1992 when they moved to Brush. Doris was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Hillrose and later Shepherd of the Plains Lutheran Church in Fort Morgan throughout her life.

She worked as the Brush RE-2J School District administrative secretary beginning in 1978 for several years. Then, when she had the opportunity to work part time, she was the relief postmaster for the Hillrose Post Office until 2011.

Doris enjoyed many pastimes and several women's clubs in her lifetime, including an extension club for over 30 years and Entre' Nous, a local General Federation of Women's Club organization. She was a Sunday School teacher for fifteen years at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hillrose. Additionally, she was a 4-H leader for ten years. She loved ceramics and scrapbooking. Many in the family remember her through these talents and possess beautiful examples of her ceramic work and detailed historical scrapbooks containing collected photographs and researched family history, another hobby of hers. She was particularly interested in her family's history as Germans from Russia. Cooking, journaling, reading novels, and stamp collecting occupied many of her other hours.

Sports were a great interest of Doris's, and as her grandchildren grew up, she looked forward to every event of theirs she could attend, from swim meets to football, basketball and baseball games. She was an avid Colorado sports fan and watched those events with great interest even till the very end, including Denver Broncos football games on television at the Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center campus, where she and Fred moved to live in late 2018.

She had many health struggles throughout her life, and yet with perseverance and determination, overcame multiple battles with cancer and various orthopedic surgeries and complications.

In addition to her husband Fred of nearly 68 years, Doris was preceded in death by her parents, son Neil, and sister Betty Repp. She is survived by her daughter Amy (Mike) Ely; granddaughter Erin (Allen) Goff and great-grandchildren Cole, Ava and Michael; grandson Matthew (Caty) Ely and great-grandchildren Emma, Leo, Cecilia and Isabelle; and grandson Christopher (Christine) Ely and great-grandchildren Annabelle, Adeline and Cooper. She is also survived by sisters Nancy Rudolph, Ellen (Larry) Larsen, and Jeri (Dave) Boyes, as well as many nieces and nephews.

A viewing will be held Monday, February 23, 2026, from 5-6:30 P.M. at Heer Mortuary in Brush, Colorado. Her service will be held at Shepherd of the Plains Lutheran Church, 629 Ensign Street, Fort Morgan, Colorado, on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 10 A.M. Memorial gifts in Doris Wahlert's honor may be made to Shepherd of the Plains Lutheran Church.

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