Gustave Legrand

Gus LeGrand, as he liked to be called; Gustave Charles is what his parents named him. He was born on October 2, 1920 in Summit, Illinois. Gus bragged about mowing Wrigley’s Field and having seen “the Babe” play baseball there as a teenager. As a young adult, he wanted so badly to join the military but was not allowed because of his overbite. His desire to fight for his beloved America drove him to have an operation which broke his jaw and straightened his teeth so that he could join the army. He then became a combat medic in Europe. With no protection except the red cross on his uniform, he carried his wounded comrades to safety time and time again, saving the lives of many. He later met Ruth Raukohl and they were married in 1945 in Illinois. Gus attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and lived in a Quonset with their first son, Bill. He went on to have another daughter, Cindy, and his youngest son, Paul. At the University of Colorado, he majored in Pharmacy and became a licensed pharmacist. He started his career at Yarburrows and completed a 45 year career by retiring in 1993 from Royel Drug. According to him, his career was just a means of supporting his family. What he really enjoyed doing was teaching Sunday school and singing in the choir at Crossroads American Baptist Church for 44 years. Other than his savior, family and church, his other loves were gardening and fishing the streams of Colorado. Also a lover of humanity, he helped coordinate a civil rights parade for Martin Luther King during the civil rights movement. He lost his wife to heart disease in 2004 after being a faithful husband to her for 59 years. He died on November 12, 2013 in Brighton, Colorado.