Margaret Elizabeth "Beth" Leighton of Denver passed away on May 29, 2024 at age 72. She was born March 12, 1952 in Rochester, New Hampshire to Roger Stephen Leighton and Margaret Justine Leighton and lived in Strafford, New Hampshire for her entire childhood. During those carefree days, she was blessed with walking pine forests with her dad, Bow Lake to swim in, chasing butterflies, bike rides to the lake, and sunny summer hayrides.

After high school at Spaulding High in Rochester, Class of 1970, she attended the University of New Hampshire, where she was a sister in Chi Omega sorority and graduated summa cum laude in 1974 with a BS in Nursing. During college, she joined a program and enlisted in the Navy in return for tuition her last two years. After graduation, she entered the Navy as an Ensign nurse and was stationed in Groton, Connecticut for two years. She then moved to Washington DC and was a nurse at George Washington University Hospital before moving to Denver in the late 70's. There, she obtained a master's degree in Primary Care Nursing from the University of Colorado. Beth developed an enduring love for Colorado and remained there for the rest of her life.

In 1990, Beth welcomed her son, Tyler Paschall Leighton, and was a devoted and loving mother. In 1995, Beth married the love of her life, Leon James Tauscher who predeceased her in 2017. They joined their lives and their families with Leon's three adult children, Brian Edward Tauscher, Angela Denise Wright, and Nicole Serena Jaech and Beth cared deeply for them as her own.

Beth served her calling as a skilled and compassionate nurse in area hospitals, as well as becoming an administrator, and teaching as a nursing instructor for many years with Regis University and other nursing programs. She specialized in the fields of addiction and mental illness working at detox centers and other clinics throughout her career to help those who struggled to help themselves. She nursed so many people through some of the most difficult circumstances and left many with a lasting impression of sincere and compassionate care. Beth combined her experiences as a nurse with her love of holistic and alternative healing to explore various healing arts. She had a brilliant mind and deep curiosity for the meaning of life. Beth loved the beach and ocean, writing poetry, feeding hummingbirds, and rescuing elderly dogs with health problems to give them a better life. She nurtured a love of learning and self-improvement, shared her experience, strength, and hope with others, and was an extraordinary human being.

Beth wanted to be remembered as someone who was a seeker of the Light – a Lightworker. She prayed for the healing of the Earth and came to believe it was all about Love and Forgiveness. For her, death is a step into another dimension and she believed the soul does not die, only the physical body. She believed her soul would rejoin her parents and she would be reunited with her Mom, Dad, Leon, Samantha, and others she had loved. We send her to the Light to continue her journey of Healing through Love and Forgiveness in a different dimension. We look for her in moments of quiet reflection and in the soft glow of the twilight hours where she shined brightest. She was radiant, beautiful, generous, loving, and very special to many people. She leaves a deep chasm in our hearts.

Beth is survived by her children: son Tyler and stepchildren, Brian (Carolyn), Angela (Alex), and Nicole; her siblings: R. Stephen Leighton Jr. (Donna), Martha V. Leighton, and M. Abigail Aucella (Paul); six nieces and nephews: Jay, Nathan, Kate, Ashley, Beau and Erik; and six grandchildren: Piolet, Alaysia, Noelle, Avilyn, Lanae, and Jace. She was preceded in death by her loving parents, Roger and Justine Leighton of Strafford, New Hampshire and her niece, Samantha.

Private family services are being held in Colorado and New Hampshire. In Lieu flowers, memorials may be made in Beth's name to ASPCA .

To our beloved Beth (wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend), we wish you…

The Comfort and Sweetness of Peace

After the clouds, the sunshine,

after the winter, the spring,

after the shower, the rainbow,

for life is a changeable thing.

After the night, the morning,

bidding all darkness cease,

after life's cares and sorrows,

the comfort and sweetness of peace.

~Helen Steiner Rice