|
The
Rio Blanco Herald Times
Well-known Meeker resident
Denis Unrein, 60, died March 28, 2005 at Pioneers Hospital following a
valiant fight with cancer.
Denis was born Nov. 27, 1944, in Chicago, Ill., one of 17 children born
to Cyril and Mary (Kuhn) Unrein. As a child the family moved to Kansas
and later to Berthoud and Mead where Denis attended school, graduating
from high school with the
Longmont High School class of 1963.
In 1963, Denis began a career as a lineman and installer for Mountain
States Telephone and Telegraph, retiring from Qwest on March 21, 2003.
In October of 1965 Denis left the telephone company to serve his country
in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He returned to the
Mountain Bell following his discharge in August of 1967.
While working for the telephone company he lived in Boulder where he was
a member of the Boulder Rural Fire Department. In June of 1980 Denis and
his family moved to Meeker. In February of 1981, Denis was preceded in
death by his wife Linda. On Dec. 27, 1982, at the urging of his two
sons, Denis was united in marriage to Anne Vanfossen at the home of his
mother in Mead.
Denis was a Life Member of V.F.W. Post #5843 in Meeker where he served
as post commander for a number of years. He was twice named All State
Quartermaster and in 2004 was named All American Commander by the
national V.F.W. association. It was a great honor for Denis to
coordinate and assist at a great number of military burial services in
Meeker throughout the years.
Denis loved to spend time outside camping and fishing. He will be
remembered by many in Meeker for his hearty laugh, broad grin and grand
sense of humor.
In addition to his parents and his first wife, Denis is preceded in
death by one son, Grant Unrein, one brother, Darrell and two siblings
who died in infancy.
Survivors include his wife, Anne, of the family home, one son, Denis
Unrein, II of Las Animas; one step-daughter, Leslie Croley of Mt.
Vernon, Wash., four grandchildren, Jessica Warden of Craig, Trenton
Croley of Mt. Vernon, Cheri Filloon of Denver, Lindsay Croley of Mt.
Vernon; one great-granddaughter, Neveah Filloon and his brothers and
sisters, Jeanie (John) Curley of Dorchester, Mass., Ernie (Loree) Unrein
of Ft. Lupton, Arlene (Cecil) Bohall of Lakewood, Cy (Linda) Unrein and
Ralph Unrein, both of Longmont, Joyce (Warren) Bertrang of Valentine,
Neb., Phyllis Unrein of Arvada, Mel (Cathy) Unrein of Windsor, Joy
McDonald of Denver, Mary Kay Unrein of Lakewood, Dave (Yvonne) Unrein of
Windsor, Carolyn (Vince) Cummins of Bailey and Tom (Mary) Unrein of
Grand Island, Neb., and his mother-in-law, Opal Switzer of Medford, Ore.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, April 1 at Cochran
Memorial Chapel in Meeker with interment and full military honors to
follow in the Highland Cemetery. Friends may call Thursday evening until
8 p.m. or Friday until service time at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Denis Unrein Memorial Fund
at First National Bank of the Rockies, the proceeds of which will be
divided between the VFW Auxiliary Educational Scholarship and the V.F.W.
Cancer Research Fund.
Cochran Memorial Chapel has been entrusted with the arrangements.
|
