Darol Woolley, 82, of Basalt, CO, passed away in his sleep from apparent heart failure on September 29. He was born to John and Helen Woolley in Longmont, Colorado. The family lived at the Tucker McClure Ranch (now Cap-K Ranch) in the 1940s and Darol graduated from Basalt High School in 1955. He served in the U.S. Army and worked as a driver for the staff of General MacArthur in New York City. Later, he was a helicopter mechanic and spent the rest of his career working as a phone technician for Mountain Bell, later Qwest, in the Aspen area. He was a member of the Aspen Elks Club for 42 years, and after retirement, he maintained telephone cable on the ski areas for Aspen Telecom Group. Darol and his brother Larry moved their cabins and the Meredith Store to their present location when the Ruedi Dam was built in the 1960s. He was fun, funny and will be remembered for his storytelling, wit and charm.
Darol is survived by his brother Larry Woolley (Betty Lou) and sister Marilyn Lee (Henry), nieces Teresa Lee, Cristal Logan (Mark) and Pamela Woolley (Fred Malone), grandniece Elizabeth Melville, grandnephews Henry Melville and Levi Logan. He is also survived by his very special friend Barbara Cain, who made his last five years the happiest years of his life.
A memorial service is being planned and will be announced soon.