Provided Photo
Richard Orton July 22, 1948 ~ February 23, 2020
Richard Lynn Orton husband, life partner, best friend for 28 years to Alison West; wonderful father and mentor to Michele Orton and Lacy Orton King; loving grandfather to Erich Albrecht; brother to David Orton and wife Chris; uncle to Chris, Tim, and Jeff Orton, and Conner Ivie. He was predeceased by his parents Otis Willard Orton and Viola Orton-Maddox and his brother Kenneth Orton. His family moved to Glenwood Springs when he was 12. So many memories of Glenwood High School and the friendships from that time, especially Terry Fattor. College at CSU, earning his Civil Engineering degree; 1st in his family to complete college. Married Kay Zelenka at age 21, and was blessed with daughter Michele. 2nd marriage to Becky Morris and was blessed with daughter Lacy. Met Alison in 1992; that engendered wonderful memories too many to mention in as brief a space as this. They “bought the farm” in Silt in 1997, where they lived until his death. Worked for CDOT for 30 years and, as Resident Engineer, was an integral part of the Glenwood Canyon project from start to finish. He was a passionate music lover, and played trumpet with Symphony in the Valley for 22 years. He was an extraordinary gardener, and the flowers and trees he planted on the farm were always gorgeous because of him.
How can one condense a life into so few words…it’s not possible. Nor can words describe how kind, generous, thoughtful, funny, intelligent, creative, and caring he was. He LOVED all animals, but especially dogs.
There is a hole in our hearts that will never heal with him gone, but we hope that life will bring us other joys. He would want that.
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