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EARL LEROY WRIGHT, 92, of Golden died Feb. 26. Services will be at 1 p.m. Friday, March 2, at Foothills Chapel, Golden. Mr. Wright was born in Hutchinson, Kan., on Jan 6, 1909. He married Geraldine Burtnett, 1941. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He owned Earl L. Wright Custom Construction. He was a member of Clear Creek Valley Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife; son Ronald of Indiana; daughters Cheri Proctor of Westminster, Anita of Fort Collins; sister Dorothy Smith of Nebraska; eight grandchildren.
(Dated March 2, 2001)
MONICA RAE YARZEBINSKI, 4 months, of Westminster died Feb. 22. Services were Feb. 28, with burial at Highland Cemetery. Monica was born in Thornton on Nov. 6, 2000. Survivors include her mother Samantha Saulton; father Nicholas; sister Angela Marie; grandparents Jacqueline and Michael Saulton; grandmother Vickie Gray; grandfather Mitchell all of Westminster.
(Dated March 2, 2001)
LARRY D. BALLARD, 62, of Denver died Feb. 22. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at his home, 3601 W. Saratoga, Denver. Mr. Ballard was born in Ames, Iowa, on June 19, 1938. He married Frankie Donathan, 1956. He worked at Service Tool. Survivors include his wife; daughters Tami Roberts of Highlands Ranch, Lauri Siedlecki of Colorado Springs, Darci Archer of Littleton; son Barry of Highlands Ranch; six grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
GILBERT BARELA JR., 75, died Feb. 25. A memorial mass was March 2. Mr. Barela was born in Los Angeles on June 29, 1925. He married Patricia Darce. He served in the Navy during World War II. He was the ex-director and founder of the Veteran Outreach Program. He was a member of St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus, the American GI Forum and LULAC. Survivors include daughters Kathleen Blanton, Becky Yanaga of Littleton; brothers Robert and Raul, both of Lakewood; sisters Juliet Pacifico and Becky Moore, both of California; four granddaughters.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
DONALD E. BROTHERTON, 68, of Littleton died Feb. 22 in Englewood. Services were Feb. 26, with burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Mr. Brotherton was born in Chambers, Neb., on May 2, 1932. He married Shirley Smith, 1953. He was a teacher and coach. He was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church and South Suburban Men's Club. Survivors include his wife; daughter Mary Tafel of Longmont; sons Gary of Greeley, Timothy of Littleton; sister Doris Gustafson of Eaton; brothers Dale of Northglenn, Jim of Littleton, Tom of Greeley; eight grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
TREVA LUELLA "TWEETY" BROWN, 80, of Denver died Feb. 28 in Coos Bay, Ore. Mrs. Brown was born in York, Pa., on Aug. 19, 1920. She married James Brown, 1939. She owned and operated Sherry Kay Cafe in Denver, worked as a switchboard operator at the Longmont United Hospital and bookkeeper for a vending machine company. She was a member of FINS Club, Columbine Eastern Star and First Methodist Church. Survivors include daughters Sherry Kelsay of Indiana, Peggy Kelsay of Wyoming; son William of Colorado Springs; eight grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; three step-great-grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
BOBBY JOE CHAPIN, 72, of Fort Morgan died Feb. 27. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 3, at Jolliffe Mortuary Chapel, with burial at Memory Gardens Cemetery. Mr. Chapin was born in Stratton, Neb., on Dec. 9, 1928. He married Shirley Retherford, 1950. He served in the Army. He was an equipment installer for Western Electric Co. and owned a dairy. Survivors include his wife; daughter Cyndi Eberhart of Last Chance; son Terrie of Fort Morgan; brothers Gerald and Gene of Oregon, Don of Weldona, Jerry of Texas; sisters Joann LaDu of Michigan, Mary Riffey of California, Betty Pendergraft of Oregon; four grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
A.V. ROBERTSON COE, 82, of Denver died Feb. 11. Mr. Coe was born in Philadelphia on July 11, 1918. He married Twila Smith, 1942. He served in the Army during World War II. He was a geologist head of U.S. Exploration at Husky Oil Co. He was a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. Survivors include his wife; daughter Twila Woods of California; sons Rob of Texas, Howard of Northglenn; sister Ruth Fergusson of Pennsylvania; brother James of Florida; three grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
RAE ADRIENNE ORIOL CUSIMANO, 45, of Arvada died Feb. 24 in Brighton. Burial was in Louisiana. Mrs. Cusimano was born in New Orleans on Sept. 3, 1955. She was a land specialist for a local oil and gas company. Survivors include sons Nicholas, Jacobi and Michael, all of New Orleans; mother Audrey Oriol of New Orleans; sisters Ann Oriol Strain and Joan Oriol, both of Louisiana; brother Dale Oriol of Louisiana.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
JOHN T. "JACK" De FEO, 83, of Golden died Feb. 10. Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 7, at Beth Eden Baptist Church. Mr. De Feo was born in Denver on Dec. 23, 1917. He married Lucille Noblitt, 1929. He served in the Army during World War II. He was a meat cutter. Survivors include his wife; daughters Diana Best of Golden, Jackie Johnson of Lakewood; son Fred of Lakewood; sisters Mary Dinkel and Betty of Denver, Lyn Nelson of Grand Junction; eight grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
RANDY LEE DeJULIO, 39, of Yukon, Okla., formerly of Durango, died Feb. 26. Services were March 1, with burial at Yukon Cemetery. Mr. DeJulio was born in Durango on Oct. 24, 1961. He married Teresa Kay Allen. He worked at the Golden Corral. He was a youth football coach and member of the Alley Cats Bowling Team. Survivors include his wife; sons Zackary and Brandon of Oklahoma; father and stepmother Frank and Linda of Aurora; mother Jerry Whiteley of Oklahoma; brother Rodney of Oklahoma; sister Starla Ketcham of Littleton; stepsister Lucy Tyler of Aurora.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
DANIEL RUPERT DURKEE, 57, of Arvada died Feb. 6. Mr. Durkee was born in Rutland, Vt., on Dec. 19, 1943. He married Judith Thomas, 1962. He was a corrections officer, carpenter and property manager. Survivors include son Daniel; daughter Dawn Durant, both of Denver; sisters Gloria Lamoureux and Donaleen Farwell; brother Dean, all of Vermont; three grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
PATRICIA MAY HINES, 75, of Westminster died Feb. 28. Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Fairmount Little Ivy Chapel. Mrs. Hines was born in Denver on Nov. 6, 1925. She married Jack Hines. She was a clerk typist for the state of Colorado. She was a volunteer at an elementary school. Survivors include son John of Texas; daughter Judy Stuber of Westminster; brother Michael Huddleston of Englewood; sisters Mary Melzer of South Carolina, Jean Baldi of Lakewood; three grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
ABRAN V. LOVATO, 32, of Denver died Feb. 3. Services were Feb. 9, with burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Mr. Lovato was born in Denver on Sept. 28, 1968. He worked at Action Painting. Survivors include mother Rosebelle; brothers Kevin, Scott, Anthony, all of Denver; grandparents Eralia Chavez and John of Trinidad.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
EDWARD "BIG ED" JOHN LOWERY, 70, of Lakewood died Feb. 23. Services were Feb. 27, with burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Mr. Lowery was born in Denver on Nov. 23, 1930. He married Terry O'Dea, 1960. He served in the Navy during the Korean War. He owned Medical Laboratory Co. and was a medical supply consultant. He was on the ski patrol at Loveland Basin. Survivors include his wife; daughter Kerri Benevenuti; sons Edward, Daniel; five grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
WILLIAM "BILL" NELSON, 44, of Commerce City died Feb. 22 in Denver. Mr. Nelson was born in Colorado Springs on April 15, 1956. He was a glazier and worked on windows, doors and storm doors. Survivors include his common law wife Michelle Brewer of Commerce City; brother Anthony Masseralli of Denver; sister Donny Duffy of Denver.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
CHARLES HOOVER NORISEZ, 90, of Madison, Ind., died Feb. 8 in Westminster. Services will be held at a later date. Mr. Norisez was born in Osgood, Ind., on Feb. 1, 1911. He married Mildred Roberts, 1938. He was a master machinist for the Indiana Kentucky Electric Corp. Survivors include sons Charles of Michigan, Phillip of Northglenn; brother James of Florida; three grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
DANIEL LEE O'NEAL, 49, of Denver died Feb. 25. Private memorial services were held. Mr. O'Neal was born in Lansing, Mich., on March 2, 1951. He worked most of his life in the oil and gas industry. Survivors include companion Judy Sevin; daughter Elizabeth of Arkansas; mother Phyllis of Aurora; father John of Elizabeth; sisters Nancy and Patricia; brother James; half brother Thomas.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
DOUGLAS F. SANDROCK, 79, died Feb. 25 in Littleton. Services were March 2, with burial at the Toledo Memorial Park Cemetery in Ohio. Mr. Sandrock was born in Toledo on Jan. 2, 1922. He married Ruth Hankison. He was a World War II Army veteran. He retired as vice president of Great Lakes Insurance. Survivors include his wife; daughter Constance Barclay; sons Douglass and John.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
FLORENCE G. SULLIVAN, 74, of Englewood died Feb. 23 in Littleton. Services were Feb. 27, with entombment at Mount Olivet. Mrs. Sullivan was born Florence G. Reilly in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 12, 1926. She married Patrick J. Sullivan, 1945. She was a homemaker. She was a member of Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary, Tuesday Noon Gliders and BPO Elks. Survivors include daughters Mary McGinnis of Aurora, Carol Francks of Littleton, Paula Quillen of Indian Hills, Ellen Velasquez of Littleton; sons Patrick Jr. of New York City, Michael of Highlands Ranch, John of Montana; 13 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
VERNON R. WILDY, 83, of Chillicothe, Mo., formerly of Aurora, died Feb. 24. Services were Feb. 28, with burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Mr. Wildy was born in New Athens, Ill., on Dec. 2, 1917. He married Beulah Fern Taylor, 1946, deceased, and Wilma Hamilton, 1989. He entered the military in 1942 and served most of his term at Fitzsimmons Hospital. He owned Wildy/Miller Real Estate firm in Aurora and was the first president of the Aurora Board of Realtors Association. He was a Mason and member of Aurora Lodge No. 156, Eastern Star, Amaranth Lodge, Denver Consistory Lodge, Scottish Right and El Jebel Shrine. Survivors include his wife; daughters Susan Wildy Bell and Luann Leiding; sisters Norma Skartland and Alice Ferch; stepchildren Bobbi Grimes and Herbert Hamiliton; three grandsons; six step-grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; four step great-grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
JIM M. WILLIAMSON, 58, of Longmont died Feb. 28. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel. Mr. Williamson was born in Wichita, Kan., on May 28, 1942. He married Martha Geoglein, 1967, then Cindi Gardner, 1989. He served in the Navy. He was a custom home painter for more than 30 years. He was a member of American Legion 32. Survivors include his wife; sons Jim Jr. of Westminster; daughters Kathrin Turner of Westminster, Yvonne Perry of Thornton; sisters Jane Torgeson of Grand Junction, Kay Baudier of New Mexico; six grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
EARL LEROY WRIGHT, 92, of Golden died Feb. 26. Services were March 2, with burial at Golden Cemetery. Mr. Wright was born in Hutchinson, Kan., on Jan. 6, 1909. He married Geraldine Burtnett, 1941. He served in the Army Air Force during World War II. He owned Earl L. Wright Custom Construction. He was a member of Clear Creek Valley Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife; son Ronald of Idaho; daughters Cheri Proctor of Westminster, Anita of Fort Collins; sister Dorothy Smith of Nebraska; eight grandchildren.
(Dated March 3, 2001)
James Joseph "Chico" Martinez
James Joseph "Chico" Martinez worked with kids through college helping to promote education and Hispanic culture. Later in life, he worked with the elderly in southern Colorado, sponsoring programs and services that helped them live more independently.
Then he combined his passions for helping others to forge relationships in which the elderly would teach youngsters to read and write.
Mr. Martinez died Feb. 18 of a heart attack in his hometown of Trinidad. He was 55.
His family and friends said he was still full of ambition and ready to unveil ideas to better serve the underprivileged and the vulnerable.
His public service work and his activism were just getting started, they said.
"He's already missed in a lot of different ways," said Lewis Kallas, executive director of Seniors Inc. in Colorado.
Mr. Martinez worked for the organization, which serves a 13-county region in southern Colorado.
"Whenever he would see you, he would have a smile on his face, shake your hand, and he would be genuinely glad to see you," Kallas said.
Judy Casias-Peasley, a lawyer who attended Colorado State University with Mr. Martinez during the late 1960s and early 1970s, said Mr. Martinez was an exercise junkie, which made his death harder to accept.
"It's still a shock. I still can't believe it today," said Casias-Peasley, who lives in Seeley Lake, Mont. "He was just a wonderful, wonderful person, very dedicated, even-tempered and always on the go."
Casias-Peasley said she and Mr. Martinez were members of United Mexican-American Students, or UMAS, while students at CSU. Members of the student group spent their free time visiting elementary, middle and high schools around Fort Collins encouraging students to continue their education while promoting Hispanic song and dance.
"He would play the guitar, and I would sing, and he organized a dance group, the ballet folklorico," Casias- Peasley said.
Later in life, Mr. Martinez was dedicated to helping others and managed to raise a family, run a ranch and be a cowboy in the Mexican tradition.
"He did an awful lot in his 55 years, and one of the things I like to stress was that he also was a dedicated husband and father," said his wife, Marie Guzman-Martinez. "He was a charro, a true caballero. He did this in addition to all of his activities."
During the past five years, teenagers in Las Animas County got a chance to listen to and participate in Cancion Mexicana, Mr. Martinez's weekly radio show on KCRT-AM in Trinidad.
Cancion Mexicana was an offshoot of the Sunday morning show at Denver's KUVO-FM radio station, and Mr. Martinez took the music, ideas and programming to southern Colorado to help youngsters identify and familiarize themselves with Hispanic culture.
Mr. Martinez also helped organize fund-raisers for cultural and arts programs and often brought poets, storytellers and musicians to the high schools. He was active in the Hispanic Genealogical Society and La Confederacion, organizations formed to help youngsters preserve their heritage.
"He was very active in dedicating his life to his culture," Guzman-Martinez said. "He believed you lived your culture."
As much as he was dedicated to helping young people, Mr. Martinez was equally devoted to serving thousands of elderly residents in southern Colorado.
As an operating officer for Seniors Inc., he wrote and obtained grants for the Senior Community Service Employment program, which provided job training for elderly workers in the San Luis and Arkansas valleys.
Kallas said Mr. Martinez took a lot of pride in the Foster Grandparent program, in which elderly volunteers help children learn to read.
"I tell you the position he had when he died was a position we kind of built around his strength, and that was his ability to mobilize people around issues and causes," Kallas said. "He could bring people around the southern Colorado region, and it was something I had not seen like anything before."
Mr. Martinez was born in Trinidad on Aug. 30, 1949. He attended school as a child in southern Colorado but later moved to Germany and Austria, where his father was stationed in the Army. His family eventually returned to Colorado, and he graduated from St. Mary's High School in Colorado Springs.
Services for Mr. Martinez were Feb. 25 at the Faith Christian Fellowship Church in Trinidad. He was preceded in death by his father, U.S. Army Col. Thomas Martinez.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Martinez is survived by his mother, Eralia Martinez, of Colorado Springs; a son, Jose Martinez, of Albuquerque; four daughters, Luz Falcon-Martinez, of Golden, Deana Martinez, of Denver, Kimberly Morales, of Phoenix, and Carri Garcia, of Santa Cruz, Calif.; two brothers, Tom Martinez, of Trinidad, and John Martinez, of Colorado Springs; two sisters, Mary Guzman, of Colorado Springs, and Linda Martinez, of Coos Bay, Ore.; and five grandchildren.
(Dated March 18, 2005)
Robert C. Black III
authority on the history of railroads
Robert C. Black III loved trains as a child and later became an expert on their history.
"At the age of 5, he was attracted by steam locomotives," said his wife, Regina Maleham of Denver.
"He learned to read at the age of 4, and started to collect train timetables at the age of 5. He knew railroad people worldwide. He wasn't just a fan. He knew about the basics of railroad. It was a lifetime interest, and he became an expert on them."
Mr. Black died Wednesday after a long illness at Hospice of Metro Denver in Aurora. He was 74.
Services will be at 11 a.m. at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral, 1313 Clarkson St. His body was cremated, and his remains will be interred in the All Soul's Hall in the cathedral.
Born Feb. 11, 1914, in New York City, he moved to Colorado in 1925 for the health of his mother, Beatrice Cluett Black.
In 1937, he received a history degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.
Mr. Black married Regina Maleham in Denver on Sept. 5, 1939, and worked briefly for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad before enlisting in the Army in 1941.
He served with the Army Transportation Corps in Atlanta, and was discharged as a captain in 1945.
After World War II, he went back to school, obtaining a master's degree from the University of Denver in 1947.
He was an assistant professor of history at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., before becoming an associate professor of history at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., in 1950.
Mr. Black obtained his doctorate from Columbia University in 1951.
He returned to Colorado in 1967, when he became professor of history at Colorado Women's College.
He is best known for his book Railroads of the Confederacy, which was published in 1952.
"It's considered the definitive work on the subject," his wife said.
He also authored The Young John Winthrop (1966), Island in the Rockies: A History of Grand County Colorado to 1930 (1969), which won the Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History, and Railroad Pathfinder: The Life and Times of Edward L. Berthoud (1973).
In addition to his wife, he is survived by sons Meleham C. Black of Boulder, Clifford Black of Washington, John N. Black of Boulder, Peter N. Black of Louisville, James A. Black of Kensington, Md.; daughter Beatrice B. Hoverstock of Boulder; brother Andrews D. Black of San Francisco; sister Deborah B. Chastain of Lafayette; and 14 grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to: Colorado Historical Society, 1300 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202; the Grand County Historical Association, P.O. Box 165, Hot Sulfur Springs, CO 80451; or St. John's Episcopal Cathedral, 1313 Clarkson St., Denver, CO 80218.
(Dated February 3, 2001)
Robert Wilkinson, 82, Boulder radio pioneer
By Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News
(Dated July 18, 2003)
Robert N. Wilkinson
Robert N. Wilkinson was a maverick and a mystery.
An attorney who preferred tinkering with antique radios over practicing law, he created Boulder's first FM radio station, a forefather to KBCO. He played classical music when rock 'n' roll ruled the airwaves and cared more about maintaining the format than making money.
"To look at the guy, you'd think this is the janitor, not the man who owns the building," said Mike Bunten, a friend and former employee. "His hair was always disheveled. He didn't care what he looked like or dressed like. He was quite a character."
The eccentric radio pioneer died Sunday from liver cancer. He was 82.
A graduate of the University of Colorado law school, Mr. Wilkinson initially pursued a career in law. He argued cases in front of the Federal Trade Commission and ran for Boulder County judge.
But radio was his passion. He started his station in 1955, after buying equipment from an FM station in Denver, and used his initials to christen it KRNW.
KRNW was never a huge success. Mr. Wilkinson struggled to find advertisers, and efforts to convert the station into a noncommercial enterprise failed.
In the late '60s, Mr. Wilkinson banded together with a group that promised to help him pay the station's bills if it could alter the programming. He compromised, allowing bands such as the Beatles on the air, as long as the evenings and Sunday afternoons remained reserved for classical music.
"At that point, it became an underground radio station," recalled Bunten, who started working at the station in 1972. "It was kind of counterculture. Bob said that's when the 'longhairs' got involved."
Despite the changes, Mr. Wilkinson still considered the station a source of pride. And when AM station owner and businessman Bob Greenlee offered to buy KRNW in 1975, Mr. Wilkinson practically threw him out of his office.
"He didn't want to talk about anything," Greenlee recalled.
Nonetheless, the two kept in touch. Two years later, when the FCC was pressuring station owners to upgrade their facilities and Mr. Wilkinson received another offer, he allowed Greenlee to match the deal.
Greenlee purchased the station for $250,000 and renamed it KBCO. Though the station grew into a ratings powerhouse and fetched $27 million in 1988, Greenlee says Mr. Wilkinson never commented on the station's success.
"That was never part of Bob's makeup - to think of a radio station in that context," Greenlee said.
After selling the station, Mr. Wilkinson focused on his extensive radio equipment collection, which included the microphone that President Calvin Coolidge used for his inaugural address. He never married and he had no children.
"He was just totally off the dial, in terms of his eccentric ways," Bunten said.
(Dated July 18, 2003)
