Michael & Susan Pass (Love Story)
Bill Schenley
By Virginia Culver,staff writer
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~11777~2463910,00.html
"Devastating" is how Justin Pass describes losing both his parents
within two weeks.
Michael Pass, 64, died Sept. 25 of a brain tumor, and his wife, Susan,
62, died Oct. 4 of ovarian cancer.
Their children, Justin Pass and Alexandra Pass Smits, said they feel
the only way to come to terms with the loss is thinking that for
either Michael or Susan Pass to live without the other "would have
been unbearable," Smits said.
"Theirs was a beautiful love story," Justin Pass said.
Susan Pass had fought ovarian cancer since 1999 and had just entered
hospice care when Michael Pass was diagnosed. She was determined to go
to her husband's funeral, and she did, in a wheelchair.
Michael and Susan Pass, both native New Yorkers, were psychotherapists
treating couples, families and adolescents.
They loved Colorado and the Southwest, as well as Mexico, where they
built a vacation home. He helped design it, and she supervised the
construction.
They loved to travel and took long trips to Europe, the former Soviet
Union, Turkey and Africa.
They were very attentive to each other and their children with gifts
and surprises. Michael Pass told his son he "never stopped courting"
his wife.
Michael Pass "was unique and headstrong and lived life large," his son
said. "He was loud, he engaged people, even strangers, in
conversation. Mom was somewhat quiet, graceful. He created adventures,
and she brought him back down to earth," Justin Pass said.
Susan Pass was born July 24, 1942, in New York and reared in New
Jersey. Michael Pass was born July 16, 1940. They both attended
Columbia University School of Social Work, where they earned master's
degrees. They met while doing internships in social work.
"They went to lunch, spent the afternoon in Central Park and were
never apart again," Smits said.
They were married in 1971 and moved to Colorado in 1974 because they
had friends here and liked the West.
Michael Pass immediately bought a cowboy hat and boots, but he never
let go of his Yankees baseball cap.
He had been a social worker with Arapahoe County Mental Health Center,
director of Adams County Mental Health Services and director of
professional services at Jewish Family and Children's Services. He
also trained counselors in New Mexico who worked with American Indians
having substance-abuse problems.
Susan Pass was director of planning for the Denver Employment and
Training Administration, and she and her husband founded the Jackson
Place Counseling Group in 1985.
In addition to their children, Susan and Michael Pass are survived by
a granddaughter, Caroline Grace Smits; Susan Pass' parents, Anita Boyd
of Oakland, Calif., and Edward Boyd of Clearwater, Fla.; and Susan
Pass' siblings, Elaine Ginnold of Oakland, Christopher Boyd of
Buffalo, N.Y., Jennifer Sosenko of Valencia, Calif., and Anne Wein of
Denver.