Obituary of Marvin Douglas Meisinger

Marvin Douglas Meisinger was born in 1939 as a second-generation Colorado native. His grandparents on both sides were Germans from Russia who immigrated from the Volga valley. He grew up in Denver and Aurora. After graduating from Aurora High School, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps. Shortly after being deployed to Okinawa, he contracted Polio and was shipped back to the US with a dire prognosis. After weeks in an iron lung at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Aurora, he beat the odds and recovered.

Dad met mom in high school. She was three years behind him in school and “chased him for four years”. They dated while dad studied at the University of Denver and married in 1963.

In 1975, with 3 sons in tow, they settled in unincorporated Jefferson County, near Littleton.

Marvin was always involved in his sons’ lives through sports and YMCA Indian Guides. He coached baseball for all 3 sons at some point during their youth baseball careers. There were times that he and mom had to figure out how to watch all 3 sons play baseball at the same time.

Marvin loved all the local sports teams – he was a die-hard Columbine Rebels, Broncos, Rockies, and Nuggets fan. He was a master tailgater at Mile High Stadium in the RV parking area.

Marvin enjoyed cooking big breakfasts on Saturdays or Sundays. I remember as a kid watching Saturday Bugs Bunny cartoons while he cooked his family favorite pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs.

He taught us how to cook some of his family’s traditional dishes like Cabbage Bread, Butterballs, as well as grilling burgers and steaks and cooking holiday turkeys.

Dad and his friends and cousins frequently enjoyed getting together to enjoy a good scotch and re-live the “good old days”.

Dad loved his family and couldn’t be more proud of his 8 granddaughters and 1 grandson!

When mom died in 2012, just 6 months shy of their 50th wedding anniversary, dad was understandably sad. He would come to family gatherings but he couldn’t enjoy himself because someone was missing. Then he met Susan. Susan had recently lost her husband so they found a bond in that shared loss. After a whirlwind courtship, they married in April of 2013. For the first 3 years of their marriage, they traveled and enjoyed cross-country RV trips extensively.

In April of 2016, Marvin decided they would move to North Carolina to be near his oldest son, Todd and family. North Carolina is beautiful and it was a wonderful adventure, but they both missed family and friends in Colorado. So, they moved back to Colorado in early April 2023. In the 6 weeks Marvin got to spend back in Colorado, he said many times every day, “It’s so good to be home.”

On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, he suffered a massive heart attack. He valiantly fought to recover, but on June 1, 2023, he said repeatedly, “This Marine can fight no more.” That evening, God’s Will became fact as Marvin, the Christian soldier, passed on from this world to the world he believed was awaiting him.

He lived a good life, happy, long, and full of love and adventure.