I received the following press release from Thompson School District this morning. I am deeply saddened by the loss. Dennis and I served together on the McKee Foundation board and we always visited at the meetings and at the Board of Education meetings. He was dedicated to public service and his passing is a great loss to the community and to me personally.
Gary Wamsley
Update :Services will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 3333 North Dunfield Ave., Loveland, Colorado on Tuesday, August 17 at 10:30 a.m.
Thompson School District Board of Education member Dennis Breitbarth, 65, passed away in his sleep Wednesday night.
Breitbarth, who owned a State Farm Insurance Agency in Loveland for many years, was in his second four-year term on the board of education in District B, which includes Loveland High School, Lucile Erwin Middle School and Centennial, Edmondson, Ponderosa, Coyote Ridge and Lincoln elementary schools. His wife, Pam, is a language arts teacher at Conrad Ball Middle School. They have two sons.
Dr. Ron Cabrera, superintendent of the district, said he was stunned by the news this morning. “I just spoke to Dennis yesterday regarding student achievement. He was always interested in seeing our students be successful,” Cabrera said. “He was well read on educational topics and provided substantial contributions to the work of the board and toward the mission and vision of the district,” Cabrera added. “On a personal note, Dennis had a wonderful and quick sense of humor. I will truly miss him.”
The artist and former art teacher moved to Loveland 21 years ago. Prior to running for the board seat in 2005, he served on district committees including the Master Plan and school accountability committees. As a board member, he was a delegate to the Colorado Association of School Boards and involved with the teacher contract negotiations subcommittee.
Breitbarth was a member of the Loveland Rotary Club, former president of the United Way Board of Directors and member of the Larimer County Coalition and the McKee Medical Foundation boards.
Loveland Reporter Herald, 8/13/2010
“Loveland loses a student advocate [1]“