DeNell Haines Obituary

DeNell Jeris (Skow) Haines passed away on December 18, 2025, in Golden, Colorado at the age of 78 from complications of Dementia.

She was born in Great Falls, Montana in 1947 to William Skow and WillaDean Costner Skow. The family later moved to the Corbett-Springdale area where DeNell went to grade school and graduated from Corbett High School in 1965. She always expressed her love for the Corbett area and her many friends and classmates. DeNell graduated from Portland State University with a teaching degree in 1969. She taught 3rd grade in the Parkrose School District for one year.

On December 21, 1969, she married Robert Haines, a fellow Corbett High School classmate, in Portland, Oregon. He was in the Army, and they were married during his break from Ranger School. After the end of the school year, DeNell joined Robert in Germany. She enjoyed touring Europe and visiting the many unique shops. In 1971, DeNell returned to Portland and taught in the Gresham School District while Robert was in Vietnam. After Vietnam, they moved to Fort Hood, Texas.

In 1974, they left the Army and returned to Portland where Robert went to Lewis & Clark Law School. They moved to Denver, Colorado in 1981 when Robert joined Mobil Corporation. DeNell fell in love with Denver saying it had trees and mountains like Oregon, but no rain. With Mobil and later ExxonMobil, they lived in Denver twice, New Orleans, Norway, Bakersfield, and McClean, Virginia.

In 2017, Robert retired from ExxonMobil and they returned to Denver where they built a home in the western foothills on a lot they had held for many years. DeNell enjoyed the quiet setting of ponderosa pine and rock outcroppings and the abundant wildlife.

DeNell was an only child and her parents passed away in Tucson in 1998. She leaves behind her husband, Robert Haines.