Mother honors late son by donating $300K from his life insurance animal shelter

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (KDVR) — A mother mourning the loss of her son is turning her heartbreak into healing for others.

Jason Telleen was run over by a coworker driving a city bus in Fort Collins back in January of 2023.

The 37-year-old was an avid animal lover. His mother, Patricia Telleen, said because of that, donating to the Animal Friends Alliance no-kill shelter is a fitting way to honor her son’s name.

The moment she steps foot into the animal shelter she’s surrounded by memories of her son.

“People will recognize how much he was loved and how special he was,” Patricia said.

‘My son was the only thing I had’

She remembers learning the devastating news last year when her son was killed at the Fort Collins Transfort facility.

She said the most frustrating part of the situation was the district attorney deciding not to prosecute the driver.

“My attorney filed something called a motion to compel , which is to try to get the court to overrule the decision to not prosecute the killer,” Patricia said. “Those in attendance at that hearing unanimously agreed that they would have convicted the killer based on the clear video alone, not to mention all of the incriminating facts in the case.”

She said the DA’s excuse for not prosecuting the driver was he was not confident that he could get a conviction.

“What I would like to say is no prosecutor is ever guaranteed a conviction, but they have to try, otherwise killers and criminals get to walk free,” she said. “It’s been the worst thing you can imagine. I’m a widow. I lost my husband quite a few years ago. My son was the only thing I had.”

Now his name will live on. Patrica found a cause that was near and dear to her son’s heart.

“We’ve always had dogs in our household, at least two. Every time we had pets, we had at least two running around. He had one little favorite dog named Schatzie, a little salt and pepper Schnauzer,” Patricia said. “It was his favorite dog out of his entire life. This little dog could imitate him. Whatever sounds he made, the dog could mock him like a parrot.”

$300K donation to aid animal shelter property purchase

Patricia donated Jason’s life insurance money, totaling $300,000, to the shelter.

“Patricia’s gift is incredible. It’s one of the largest gifts our organization has ever received and it’s going to go so far,” said Sarah Swanty, co-founder of Animal Friends Alliance.

Organizers at the shelter plan to use the money to finish purchasing their other property on Mulberry Street, where their community pet resources are located, helping 10,000 animals in the community.

“Because of this gift, the loan that we would be taking out to finish the acquisitions is half,” Swanty said. “So when you think about how much interest the organization would have been spending on a loan twice as big, now that money is going to go to the animals.”

“When you lose someone, if you can’t get them back, it just makes your heart feel good to do something in their memory that will honor their way of life,” Patricia said.

Between all of Animal Friends Alliance’s programs, they help about 14,000 pets. They say Patricia’s donation will help them continue the work they do for years to come.

For more information about adoptions or to learn more about the shelter’s programming you can visit their website .

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