Anna Rohrbacker

Anna Ruth Rohrbacker, 71 of Fort Collins, CO died at her home on July 10, 2024 after a year and a half long fight with ALS. Anna Ruth Melching was born August 19, 1952, the oldest of six children of Robert and Ruth Melching. She grew up in Levering, Michigan on a small family farm where close family ties and a solid work ethic were instilled in her. She graduated from Pellston High School in 1970 where she played the trombone in the school band and worked as a “Candy Striper” at the local hospital in Petoskey. After High School she attended North Central Michigan College for two years and decided to move on from Michigan. She was adventurous and brave and a bit of a risk taker, so she struck out on her own and moved to Colorado. In Colorado, she attended and graduated from the University of Northern Colorado Teaching College. She moved to Fort Collins and took a job with Colorado State University, where she spent most of her career in Parking Management. It was at CSU where she met Russell. They soon married and for the past 46 years, enjoyed their lives together in Fort Collins. She was a risk taker and a “tough girl”, but gentile, compassionate and thoughtful and later in life, became faithful. Anna drove by Holy Family Church one night and decided "that's my church. That's where I'm going" and that's how she started. She joined Holy Family Catholic Parish in Ft. Collins and became an Oblate to the Abbey of St. Walburga in Virginia Dale, CO. As her faith grew, she began sharing and teaching the faith and Catechism to others. Anna is survived by her husband, Russ; sisters, Mary Lou Cooper, Leslie Melching, both of Petoskey, MI, Betty Emmons of Brutus, MI; brothers, Bill Melching of Central Lake, MI and Rob Melching of Levering, MI; and her furry children, Princess and Mac. A Rosary service will be held at 9:30 AM Tuesday, July 16th, followed by a Memorial Mass at 10:00 AM at Holy Family Catholic Church, 326 North Whitcomb St., Fort Collins, CO 80521. Interment will follow at Grandview Cemetery, in Fort Collins. Her family requests that, in lieu of flowers, any contributions please be made to Holy Family Catholic Church in Anna’s memory.