Gary Wayne Routh was born on 9 September 1942 in Lamar, Prowers Co., CO. He married
, in 1971 in Las Animas, Bent Co., CO. Gary Wayne Routh died on 14 February 2010 in Centennial, Arapahoe Co., CO,
Obituary -- (Findagrave.com):
Gary Wayne Routh
9 September 1942 – 14 February 2010
Gary Wayne Routh passed away the evening of February 14 at his home of congestive heart failure.
Gary, the youngest of three boys, was born September 9, 1942, in Lamar, Colorado, to Earl Randolph Routh and Eva Revenna Lamle where he grew up. His brothers are Elmer Leroy Routh and his wife, Joan, of Rutherfordton, North Carolina, and Melvin Eugene Routh and wife, Lois, of Castle Rock, Colorado.
As a youngster, Gary had a bicycle newspaper route and later learned about the care and running of an old-fashioned printing press and typesetting. In high school he was an active member of a car club.
After high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army and spent four years in England working for the NSA. He went back as a civilian for an additional two years and was able to tour most of Europe. He lived outside of Harrogate, England, very near the area his Routh ancestors lived. He said the cemeteries there were populated with numerous Rouths.
He always liked music, but while living in England he broadened his tastes and discovered a real love for classical music, history, architecture, and the English culture. Wanting to fit in with the English, he purchased tweeds to wear and traveled the rural routes visiting historic sites and talking with people, but he said they always knew he was American because of his shoes, even if he didn't speak. He developed a taste for a good cup of English tea, ales and especially a pint of Guinness on draft. While there he purchased his first of a series of BMWs in Germany. His tastes in cars evolved from hotrods in high school to his finely engineered BMWs. He loved driving those cars. He always said that he learned to drive on the narrow, curvy back roads of England and some of his fondest memories were living there.
After returning to Colorado, he attended college at Southern Colorado State College in Pueblo and Otero Junior College in La Junta with a leaning towards art classes in which he excelled. One of his projects in La Junta was creating a model of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre which was on display for many years. The college logo he designed is still in use. Gary's artistic and design capabilities covered a broad range.
College classes were actually too slow and limiting for his tastes-he liked to do his own research, was nearly obsessive until he had discovered enough information to be satisfied, and was an incredibly fast researcher. He was a very knowledgeable person on a wide variety of subjects.
School in La Junta was where he met his future wife, Sally Karen Turner, daughter of Aaron Wesley Turner and Gladys Irene Zimmerman. Gary and Sally married in 1971 in Las Animas, Colorado, and settled in Greeley so Sally could finish college while Gary attended classes at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and worked at CitiBank in Greeley. Their two boys were born in Greeley, Eric Randolph, called Odie, born August 13, 1972, and Jonathan Aaron, born February 24, 1976. Odie married Kristin Grace Fontaine in 2004 in Vermont. They now have three children, Quinn, Elliott, and Delia, and live in Vermont. Jon married Lisa Lynn Miller in 2004 in Colorado. They have two children, Wylie and Cade, and live in Oregon. Gary transferred with CitiBank to Denver in 1979.
Gary was hired by Martin Marietta as a telecommunications technician in 1981. Shortly thereafter the family went through very difficult times when Sally developed a malignant brain tumor in 1982. She passed away in 1988 in Las Animas.
At Martin Marietta, Gary met Janice Christine LaBorde, daughter of Laurence Charles LaBorde and Mildred Christine Clark. Gary and Jan married in 1993 in the Evans Chapel on the Denver University campus and Centennial is where they made their home.
He worked at Martin Marietta for 13 years, leaving after becoming a communications manager liaison between the Orlando and Denver Divisions, worked downtown for Colorado SuperNet developing websites for a couple of years before going back to work for Lockheed Martin. Jan retired from Lockheed Martin in 2000; Gary retired in 2002.
After retirement Gary and Jan became passionate genealogists, spending most of their time researching information about their ancestors online and making genealogy research trips to Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, and the genealogy library in Salt Lake City. Gary compiled a family history of his mother's Lamle family and forwarded it to family, most of whom knew little of their Lamle ancestors. Since then he made a breakthrough on the Adams branch of the Lamles and intended to incorporate that information into the history. He also researched ancestors for other family members. He was very much looking forward to beginning his Routh family history when he died.
A few other of his interests down through the years were old trains, railroad modeling (one of his model layouts was on display at Caboose Hobbies for several years), astronomy (making night trips to the mountains to avoid light pollution), and the LINUX operating system, a more recent interest. He leapt into all his hobbies with full passion.
He loved dogs, particularly border collies and keeshonds; books, especially reference books, biographies and the occasional science fiction novel; and libraries, making good use of the Denver Public Library, Mid-Continent Library in Independence, Missouri, and the genealogy library in Salt Lake to name a few. Besides English tea, Gary really loved his dark-roast coffee in the morning, ground his own beans, and timed his purchases of beans to coincide with a new shipment's arrival.
Gary and the word computer were nearly synonymous. In the 1980s before PCs were common, he was among the first at Martin Marietta to purchase his own early Mac SE and made good use of it for the company. He migrated to PCs some years ago and is now a UNIX enthusiast. He could hardly be excelled by anyone in his talent for research-a great skill for a genealogist.
Gary was a loyal, devoted, loving and supportive husband and father. He was kind, had a fun loving spirit and great sense of humor, and always had wonderful rapport with kids. His large presence was felt as soon as he entered a room and his boundless energy and enthusiasm for any project he took on was impressive. He was generous with his time and skills and volunteered often. He valued knowledge and learning and dedicated his life to that pursuit.
Gary -- husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend -- will be sorely missed.
OBITUARY
Passed away the evening of Feb. 14, 2010. He was born Sept. 9, 1942 in Lamar, CO to Earl and Eva (Lamle) Routh. He married Sally Turner in Las Animas in 1971 who passed away in 1988. He married Janice LaBorde on March 21, 1993, in Denver. He is survived by his wife Janice; sons Odie (Kristin) of Vermont and Jon (Lisa) of Oregon; brothers, Roy ( Joan) of NC and Mel (Lois) of CO; grandchildren Wylie and Cade of OR, Quinn, Elliott and Delia of VT, and numerous nieces and nephews. Gary served in the U.S. Army for four years. He valued knowledge and learning and dedicated his life to the pursuit. A memorial service will be on Sat., Feb. 20 at 10:00 a.m. at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary, 6601 S. Colorado Blvd., Littleton, CO. To share a memory of Gary please visit www.MEM.com.
He was buried in February 2010 in Wiley Cemetery, Bent Co., CO, Findagrave #74285131.