Michael David Loflin

It is with great love and sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, brother, son, and uncle, Michael David Loflin. He left this world reluctantly after battling pancreatic cancer, as he would never willingly leave behind his beautiful and amazing wife and daughter. There will be a Remembrance Gathering on Saturday, June 28, 2025 from 4:00-6:30 pm at Crestmoor Ward Chapel, 740 Hudson Street, Denver, CO 80220.
Michael was born in Provo, Utah on Decembr 12, 1959 to Marvin Dee Loflin and JoJean Hansen, while they were attending Brigham Young University.
Michael would move quite a bit before graduating from high school. But in his first move, his parents took him to Bloomington, Indiana where Marv was attending grad school. It was there that two little sisters were added to the family: Maren (Dunn) and Celeste (Royal). At first he didn't love sharing mom and dad, and when they brought home sister #2, he was thrilled, asking, "can we take Maren back now?"
They stayed in Indiana long enough for his Dad to finish his PhD, and then moved to Alexandria, Virginia to take a job with the CIA, although they wouldn't stay there for long. The young family left pretty soon for Columbia, Missouri, and another couple of sisters were added: Gwen (Kaiser) and Andrea (Anaya), during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Mike was cultivating a real knack for being a big brother, a role that he turned out to be quite good at. In countless pictures and in memories, Mike was always carting one young sibling or another on his shoulders, his back, or pushing a stroller. He played outside, played cards, and of course teased and hid in the basement to jump out and scare the bananas out of little sisters sent to wake him up for mom! Or just for the fun of it.
Before he turned 12 years old, Michael experienced yet another move this time to Mequon Wisconsin, where the family bought a little farmhouse on 5 acres. Another State and another sibling. Only this time, he got a brother, Cameron Dee Loflin was born in1972. Mike lived in Wisconsin for 4 years, during which time he became a teenager and began to discover talents and hobbies that he would enjoy for the rest of his life, (as well as outrunning mosquitos on long, humid hikes which he hoped never to experience again). It was in Wisconsin, in the 8th grade that he was first introduced to computers, long before personal computers even existed. In 1974 a school counselor sparked an interest that led to a very successful career.
The summer Mike was 14, he spent in Mesa Arizona with his grandmother Viola and his uncles there. He enjoyed home-cooked grandma meals and lots of grandma love, learned a bit more of the world than he was quite ready for, and above all else was introduced to the night sky. The stars. And oh how Michael loved the dark sky. His super high-powered telescope and Celestron binoculars were among his most prized possessions. The pull of the wonder of the night sky worked on him throughout his life, and this love of the stars enriched the lives of all of us who sought out his company on moonless nights.
After Wisconsin, the family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where Mike attended Las Vegas High School. And even though he technically graduated from Chugiak High in Alaska, in his heart, this was HIS high school. One of the things that he loved throughout all the schools he attended was playing in the school band. In the 5th grade, he was introduced to the possibility of playing an instrument, and he didn't even hesitate: he wanted to play the trombone. And play the trombone he did. He once performed a solo, as the crocodile in Peter Pan. At LVHS he played not only in the high school band, but also was in the jazz band. He participated in band fundraisers-including making and selling gingerbread houses and travelled to Disneyland with the band. He thought of himself as a musician and he loved music all his life. When his day at the computer was good and done, he inevitably would turn on his music. According to his wife, the music started like clock work to signal the end of the work day. Night after night, without fail, for nearly 30 years.
The family had one more move before Michael left home for new adventures, and it was an adventure in itself: Eagle River, Alaska in 1977. Mike had one year left in high school and spent that year playing in the band, hanging with good friends, and working at Burger King, (Mom remembers Mike bundled up in the driver's seat, taking a heaterless Volkswagen Bus in the cold Alaskan winter with two little circles carved out of the ice on the windsheld.). He went up to Alaska with just his Dad to help move in. Dad left him alone, 17 years old, with plenty of money for food and gas and what-not while Dad flew back down to the lower 48 to get the rest of the family. Not surprisingly, Mike succumbed to his teenage desire to spend the money, not on food: He bought the cheapest food he could survive on and filled his pockets with lots and lots of books.
Books, books, and more books. Michael loved to read. And he loved to talk about books. When the family started a book club, Mike never missed. In fact, he was always at least 15 minutes early. The only thing he loved more than reading the books, was sharing the books he loved with the people he loved.
Aftter he graduated from high school, Michael served an honorable mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Boston Massachusetts Mission. He spent time in Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts, where he learned to love apple pie with sharp cheddar cheese, and learned that he had inherited his parents' talent for teaching. One of his mission companions was so impressed by Michael that he wrote his parents a letter, expounding on Mike's good character and great teaching ability. After returning from his mission, he worked for the State of Alaska BLM, traveling all over The Last Frontier taking supplies to remote places where firefighters were taking out wildfires before heading to Brigham Young University to begin college.
Once in Utah, he spent a few years working on that elusive degree, but before it was completely he decided to move to Salt Lake to be closer to his cousins. He worked at a shoe store-where he met one of his life-long dear friends, Gary. He eventually took over collections for his Aunt's company where he set up computer systems to drive more revenue than the company had ever seen. And, it turns out, that in addition to teaching, he had quite an aptitude for computers, cultivated at that time for 20 years!
Eventually, his parents would invite him to move to Golden, Colorado and get equity in the business to set up the computer systems for their medical transcription business, using his talents to grow the family business so that it blessed all of them. He was sent to Moscow, Russia by UCD to set up their computer systems. He worked for 20 years for IBM and Excel Energy, winning accolades and Service Excellence Awards in spades for his work at both companies. He worked hard and was dearly respected and appreciated by both coworkers and supervisors.
In the mid 1990s, Michael finally decided it was time to finish his degree, and with his Dad as Dean, CU in the City was an obvious choice. He enrolled at the University of Colorado, Denver in computer science. It was during one of his mandatory classes, Art, that he saw one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He heard her talking to another classmate in Russian, and his heart was captivated. He asked her out for coffee. Within two weeks, they were talking about sharing their lives together, and within six months they were married. They would have celebrated 30 years of love and laughter and sweet companionship in just a few short weeks.
Michael married Tamara Gabrelova on August 26, 1995 in the Lutheran Church that sponsored her family to come to Colorado from the former Soviet Union. How he loved his wife! She filled his life with love and beautiful family. He fully embraced not only her with great love, but all of her family: Emil, Alfreda, and Karina. He was an anchor in their lives, and he loved them without reserve.
Michael and Tamara were surprised after a few hopeful years of waiting with the news that they were expecting, and their dreams of a family were fulfilled. Jessica Loflin, their beloved daughter, was born June 29, 1998. Michael was a beautiful person who enriched the lives of all of those who knew him: family, friends, colleagues, but he truly shined as father, and there was none better. He adored his little girl. His Snuggly Buggly. He showed up in love for her every single day, walking her to school, bicycling with her in the park, talking for hours, cooking in the kitchen, sharing puns of all shapes and sizes. He was the kind of dad who didn't just go the obligatory dance show during her many years of ballet, but showed up for Every. Single. Performance. Even when she moved away to Vermont, he spent an hour every night keeping her foremost in his life.
Michael treasured the thoughtful and personal gifts that his Jessica gave him. He has in a place of honor by his computer the night sky from the night he was born, a camping mug, and of course the hummingbird feeder with the built-in camera. She knew her dad, and knew what he loved, and he cherished those gifts, and wouldn't hesitate to show you all the shots that camera took of hummingbirds.
Jessica was a teenager when he introduced her to, not just one, but two of his great loves: the stars and the Utah desert. Mike shared this love with anyone who was adventurous enough to white knuckle it in his 4x4 (be it Suzuki, Bronco, Lexus, or Toyota Tundra) and travel on the New Moon. He took his sisters while they were in college, and many times as adults. He and Gwen found themselves stuck in the mud in Red Canyon and had to walk out 26 miles. They walked 23 miles the first day and then slept in the middle of a little dirt road, building a small fire so they couldn't possibly be missed. And also because they were cold. They were, after all, lying on the dirt without sleeping bags or blankets. After 3 more miles of walking in the morning, they were rescued by a very nice couple in a very fancy motorhome. Many of his nieces and nephews and sisters got to look at the stars, explore the ruins and pictographs, and camp in the desert with him over the years.
Michael was a beautiful person of great integrity and intelligence. It was a joy to share his love of puns, family, stars, music, the desert. He was a loving, kind and compassionate husband and father. He was a mathematician at heart, and loved all things science and science fiction, but especially to use his incredibly bright mind to good effect. When he lost his father, not quite two years ago, in his grief he said that dad left a giant, Marvin-sized hole. Mike, you leave the same-sized hole in our lives and our hearts. You will be greatly missed. We will plant honeysuckle, and we will look for the hummingbirds. We will look up at the night sky, and see the desert vistas, the desert flowers, and hear the echoes in the canyons. And we will think of you.
He was preceded in death by his father, Marvin Dee Loflin. He is survived by "an inexhaustible supply of female relatives", including his wife Tamara Loflin and his daughter Jessica Loflin Adams and son-in-law Kevin Adams, his mother, JoJean Hansen Loflin, as well as his sisters Maren (Chris Dunn), Celeste (Royal), Gwendolyn May (Joe Kaiser) and Andrea (Gene Anaya) and brother Cameron (Lauri) Loflin, his in-laws Emil & Alfreda Gabralov, and sister-in-law Karina Gabrelova, as well as a litany of nephews and nieces, grand nephews and grand nieces.
There will be a Remembrance Gathering on Saturday, June 28, 2025 from 4:00-6:30 pm at Crestmoor Ward Chapel, 740 Hudson Street, Denver, CO 80220.