DENVER -- The mother of entertainer John Denver died Sunday in Aurora.

Erma Louise Deutschendorf, a longtime Aurora resident, died at the Medical Center of Aurora, South Campus, her son Ron Deutschendorf told TheDenverChannel.com Tuesday. She was 87.

Her health had declined after a stroke in late October.

Deutschendorf had remained "incredibly active" and had attended events in Aspen last fall to remember her late son, whose real name was John Deutschendorf, said Ron Deutschendorf, 61.

"She was a very giving person, very sweet," the son said.

"She would go to the memorial services each year up in Aspen and John's fans/friends would come up and talk to her, and she would talk to each one of them as long as they wanted to talk," he recalled.

The family is having a public viewing from 4 pm to 8 pm Friday and Saturday at Newcomer Family Funeral Home in Aurora.

A public funeral service will be held for Deutschendorf at 2 p.m. Sunday at Aurora’s Faith Presbyterian Church. It is the same church the mother held a memorial service for John Denver in 1997 after he was killed in a plane crash.

Denver's father died in 1982.

The Deutschendorf family has expressed appreciation for everyone's thoughts and prayers, according to a statement posted on the Windstar Foundation's Web site. Denver founded the Colorado-based foundation in 1976.

The family requests donations, in lieu of flowers, be made to The Windstar Foundation.