Margot Mclish

A beloved mother, wife, grandmother, sister and friend, Margot Welbers McLish, of Denver, Colorado, passed away peacefully at age 84 on August 28, 2021 at Swedish Hospital in Denver.

An outdoor Memorial Service and Reception will be at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 3, 2021 at Bow Mar Beach, 5395 Lakeshore Drive, Littleton, Colorado. For guests unable to attend in person, the service will also be live-streamed at https://bxcited.com/margotmclish/ . The family encourages guests to wear masks to ensure the health and safety of everyone attending.

Margot was born in Hamburg, Germany to Gerhard and Gertrud Welbers on August 20, 1937. When Hamburg was destroyed by wartime bombing, seven year-old Margot and her family were evacuated to Bavaria. As the war ended, Margot was delighted by the generosity and friendliness of the American soldiers. At age 21, she moved to England, where she perfected her English and worked in various Hamburg-based businesses assisting with translation, correspondence and marketing.

With memories of the generous American spirit she witnessed after the war, she steamed to the United States in 1960 to work as an au pair in Princeton, New Jersey. The father of the family she worked for recognized her intelligence and capabilities and hired her in his business, handling payroll, filing, and general office work. Eventually, her new American friends convinced her to move to Los Angeles, but on her way she met Holmes P. “Mac” McLish, married him and settled in Denver. With the Bavarian-like mountains nearby, she raised three children in the town of Bow Mar.

Margot loved skiing, tennis, opera, Native American art, traveling, and socializing with her many friends. She took up golf in her later years, which she pursued with characteristic zeal. She will always be remembered for her warm and generous spirit, her grit and determination, and her loving nature.

Margot is survived by her children, Kirsten Oakley, Tom McLish and Kendrick McLish; children in-law, Gary Oakley, Lisa Donis McLish and Karen Iker; grandchildren, Eleanor and Isabel Oakley and Gabrielle, Jennifer, Zachary, Sadie and Rose McLish; and sisters, Edith Taylor and Monika Schlichting.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, www.themmrf.org