Gala F. Covington

“Mama” Gala Covington-83 of Aurora, Colorado was called home to our Lord Jesus on July 31st, 2023. Born in Lamasco, Kentucky in 1939, she is preceded in death by her husband T.J. Covington, her father Pross Harper, mother Marjorie Forsythe, her sisters Sue Hickerson and Cleva Fultz, her brother Troy Harper, and an 8th baby brother who died during childbirth.

She is survived by her son, Paul Covington, her daughter Lynda Whitworth (Dean Whitworth), her granddaughters Tabitha Covington, Denise Gondrez, Alexis Covington, and Caitlynn Covington, her grandson Joshua Covington (Savannah Covington), and three great grandchildren: Julie Middleton, Kayla Lauderbaugh, and Kaden Covington. Additionally, she is so happily remembered by her brothers Jerry Harper (Anna Harper), Donnie Harper, and Sonny Harper (Cindy Harper), and sister Ann Ezell, and many many more nieces, nephews, cousins, First Baptist church family, and friends in Colorado, Kentucky, and beyond.

Mama Gala was a blessing on this Earth to all who met her, and she never considered anyone a stranger. After having grown up living on humble dirt floors and helping raise her 6 siblings in rural Kentucky, Gala moved to Colorado in 1957. Gala devoted her life to the care of others, and got her start in healthcare as a “live in” nurse aid in a nursing home at 18 years old. Gala worked in healthcare for 63 years; she worked at Mercy Hospital in Denver until it closed in 1995, then for home health with Centura Health, and she finished her career at Porter Adventist Hospital as a unit clerk in October of 2020. At Mercy Hospital, Gala won a safety award for recommending the innovative idea of installing an attachable handrail to help patients in and out of the bathtub. Her ingenuity didn’t stop there; she was regularly praised and congratulated for her work in healthcare, she is even known for having saved a life by successfully performing CPR. Gala was a loving mother to her own children as well as others to whom she was a mother figure. She was also an extraordinarily kind and caring friend to many throughout the years. May the Lord bless the family she left behind with a closer relationship to each other and to God. May we all carry out the beautiful message she left her Porter family when she retired which was to “be good to each other, help each other, love one another; because we never know what tomorrow will bring.”