Sarah Michiels

Sarah Michiels, 89, died peacefully in Northglenn on April 27, 2021.

She was born on July 9, 1931, in Derry, Northern Ireland, the eldest child of John and Sarah Jane (McMenamin) McCloskey. She was well known for her charm, generosity, quick wit, dancing, and her impeccable sense of fashion. She loved to sing the old Irish songs and tell funny and bittersweet stories about growing up in Derry. She knew how to turn a phrase, such as “follow-me-on” in reference to overuse of perfume, and she always had people laughing. She loved to spoil her grandkids by giving them “spondulix” from time to time when the parents weren’t watching. She was terrified of lizards, a master of crosswords, and she loved “a little pinch of food with her salt.”

She is survived by her two daughters, Jane (Melluish) Thornton of Thornton, Colorado, and her husband Leon, Louise (Melluish) Maultsaid of Wairoa, New Zealand, and her husband Tony, her siblings May (McCloskey) Mellon, Jean (McCloskey) Devlin, John McCloskey, and Monica (McCloskey) Curry, all of Northern Ireland, grandchildren Sean Thornton and his wife Alex, Shannon Thornton, Caera Thornton, and Scott Maultsaid, one great grandchild, numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Patrick, and her second husband, Lester J. “Mike” Michiels of Orlando, Florida.

A Rosary and Memorial Mass will be held at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 9371 Wigham Street, Thornton at 1:00pm on May 13, 2021, and she will be laid to rest beside her husband at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Please share memories of Sarah and condolences with her family by visiting the Tribute Wall.