Dr Hildegard Werner Messenbaugh

Dr. Hildegard Werner Messenbaugh – beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and pioneering adolescent psychiatrist – passed away peacefully at the age of 85 on January 10, 2026, surrounded by loved ones. Her remarkable life was a testament to power of truth and hope to help people overcome trauma.

Hildegard was born on June 2, 1940, in Kula, Yugoslavia, to Alfred and Anna Werner. Her earliest years were overshadowed by the catastrophe of the Second World War. In 1944, Hildegard and her family were forced to flee Kula with only what they could gather and carry on short notice, to live their next chapter as refugees in a camp for displaced persons in Saalfelden, Austria. Her brother, George, was born there to the sound of falling bombs. A curious, smart, and mischievous girl, Hildegard won a scholarship to attend Catholic boarding school in nearby Salzburg. She later liked to tell the story of sneaking past the nuns to visit a boyfriend in town. Alfred died too young in 1949, leaving Anna a widow, and the children without a father. Undaunted, they emigrated to the United States in 1956 and started a new life as hardworking immigrants in Rochester, New York. Right away, Hildegard’s trademark determination and academic excellence won her scholarships, first at Nazareth College for Women, then at the University of Rochester Medical School. It was there that Hildegard discovered an early passion for the emerging field of psychiatry—and met the love of her life, fellow medical student Robert “Bert” L. Messenbaugh, whom she wedded in 1964. So began sixty-one wonderful years of marriage.

Hildegard and Bert moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1966 to start a family and their medical practices. Hildegard was a pioneer in all she undertook. One of only three women in her medical school class, she went on to become the first female chief resident physician at University of Colorado Medical Center.

Working as an adolescent psychiatrist, Hildegard noticed that teens with severe psychiatric and emotional issues needed a “third way” alternative to the paths of incarceration and homelessness. She responded by founding a revolutionary nonprofit residential treatment facility, Third Way Center, which became her life’s work and greatest professional legacy. Propelled by her own determination and informed by her adolescent experiences during the war and emigration, Hildegard held a firm belief that there is truth and hope for everyone. Third Way Center exemplified those core beliefs, offering a healing environment to help adolescents with complex mental health issues resolve their trauma and become productive members of society. Hildegard served as Medical Director at Third Way until her dying day. Her work, and that of the brilliant colleagues she inspired, has saved countless lives. Her impact on the mental health community lives on.

Hildegard was a voracious reader, with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. She tended toward nonfiction, with a particular fondness for European history, and could regale you with the facts, foibles, and fancies of monarchs since the dawn of time. She was also an avid collector—of books, kaleidoscopes, Lalique statuary, quarters, quirky Victorian silver knickknacks. But she found her greatest passion for collecting on the beaches of Boca Grande, Florida, where she and Bert enjoyed a home for the past twenty-five years. She delighted in crafting intricate mirror frames with those thousands of seashells. Her shell collecting led them beyond Florida to the beaches of Australia, the Maldives, and beyond, fueling her boundless enthusiasm for travel. She loved chocolate, catching that rare crimson glimpse of a northern cardinal, playing sudoku, and trying to beat the Jeopardy bell with her beloved Bert. She was diminutive and powerful, intense and loving, intellectual and bitingly funny. She believed in the promise of America and was deeply concerned about its current direction. She will be greatly missed but never forgotten, and has promised everyone that she will come back in her next life as a very tall person.

Hildegard’s legacy lives on through her husband Bert; daughter Kristin and her partner Tony; son Mark and his wife Courtney; grandchildren Harry, Francie, and Milly, whom she adored; brother George and his wife Lisa; cousins Heinz and Joachim; and nephews and nieces Anne, Joe, David, Erich, Jason and Lara. Hildegard wished to be cremated, and her ashes scattered in a few places she loved. In a few months, the family will host memorials in Denver and Boca Grande. In lieu of tears and flowers, the family asks that donations go to https://thirdwaycenter.org/home and that we all keep truth and hope alive, no matter what.