Michael "Mike" Culbertson

Michael Robert Culbertson of Fort Collins, Colorado passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, on April 16, 2022. He died from Parkinson’s Disease, which he fought valiantly and with grace. Mike was a kind loving person who cared deeply about his family, relatives and many friends. He enjoyed people, helped them whenever he could, and always saw the best in them. Mike was committed to human rights and peace in the world. He was an active member of Amnesty International. Mike was born in1951 in Glendale, CA to Elizabeth Jeannine (Smith) Culbertson and Robert Culbertson. Mike served in the Navy from 1973 to 1975 and was deployed to the South China Sea . Mike completed his BA in History from the University of California Northridge. He continued his education and obtained his Masters of Library Science at the University of Southern California (USC) in 1978. Mike worked at the USC Business Administration Library and at Southern California Edison Company’s corporate library before joining the Colorado State University (CSU) Libraries in 1989. Mike thoroughly loved his job as an academic librarian, and he especially liked to help students and faculty find and obtain the resources they needed. In 2014, Mike was honored by his colleagues with the CSU Libraries Faculty Award for Excellence. Mike retired from CSU in December 2015. Mike met the love of his life, Karen Weedman, at CSU’s Morgan Library. Mike and Karen were married in 1991 and raised two beloved children, Leanne and Daniel. Mike loved being a husband and father. There are many great memories of playing sports, board games, and enjoying vacations as a family. Mike enjoyed travel and treasured memories of trips to Europe, New Zealand, Central America, as well as seeing many National Parks and places in the United States. There were also many trips to see family and friends. Mike enjoyed reading, running, hiking, golfing, and especially cheering for the USC Trojans. Mike also spent time writing poetry, essays and short stories. The last short story was about golf, the importance of human connection and never giving up. The story concludes with an apt quote to summarize Mike’s life: “Nice shot!” Mike is survived by Karen, his wife of 30 years, his children Leanne (Nick) Allen, Daniel Culbertson, his younger sister Sharon Culbertson and her son Eli, many loving extended family members and friends. His parents preceded him in death. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, June 4, 2022 at the Foothills Unitarian Church, 1815 Yorktown Ave., Fort Collins, CO. The service will also be livestreamed at https://uuma.zoom.us/my/foothills1. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research https://michaeljfox.org/donate, or a charity of your choice.