Albert Lee Hansen

Born in the middle years of the Great Depression, Albert Lee Hansen grew-up into a life of hard work. He wasn’t afraid of hard work and enjoyed laboring in the outdoors. Whether it was tending some farm animals, tending gardens, haying on his married sisters’ ranches, rounding up and herding cattle, he loved being outside and doing. He enjoyed operating heavy equipment like his Caterpillar D2 (as an owner and operator), a big front-end loader for Ideal Cement Co. or a Jefferson County snowplow for the Road and Bridge Dept. Lee was never a “talker”-he listened mostly and he was a hard-working man all his life.

Lee was born in Denver, CO to Harry and Maggie Hansen on April 6th, 1934. He was the fifth and final child born into the family. He followed in the footsteps of sister Thelma, brother Irv, sister Elsa and sister Grace. (All preceded him in death). His childhood home was located on what is now the intersection of McIntyre and 44th Ave in Golden, CO. The train ran right behind his home and led to his life-long love of steam engines.

He grew up playing with his shepherd-mix dog, Smokey, in the flat river bottom of Clear Creek amongst the cottonwood trees east of Golden, between South and North Table Mountains. His sister Elsa had married and gave birth to a son named Neil Cook, three years before Lee arrived. They were more like brothers than uncle and nephew and had many adventures growing up, side by side. Little brother Dave Cook later joined the older boys in many fishing trips and haying crews on sisters’ ranches in Meeker, Steamboat Springs and Monument. They helped round-up cattle in those places on their favorite horses-Lee’s horse was a pinto named “Deuce” because he had a patch on him that looked like a spade.

He attended grade-school in a little-known spot called Arapahoe Bar. Later, he attended and graduated from Golden High School in 1953 (now known as The Colorado Mountain Club on 10th Street in Golden). He joined the wrestling team and somehow was nick-named “Swede” Hansen; even though he was Danish by ancestry. After graduation, he started working for Stanley Francis who had an antique automobile restoring business on Hwy 40 and Nile Street in Golden. It was a life-long friendship with Stanley, who continued to call Lee by his nickname, “Swede.” Lee worked on and owned several of these automobiles like a red coupe Model T, a yellow speedster, a black 4-door Model A, and a maroon Studebaker.

He owned a Caterpillar D2 and did scraper work as an independent businessman. During a major snowstorm, he helped clear west Colfax by pushing snow with his D2.

He had a classmate from Golden High School, named Nancy Magnussen. She went to Colorado University in Boulder in 1954. She became the roommate to one Ann May Baur from Aurora while they studying to become nurses. Nancy introduced Lee to Ann when he was visiting Boulder on his big, black motorcycle. Two years later, on June 9th, 1956, Lee (22 years) and Ann (19 years) were married in a little chapel on West Colfax. Their first apartment was over the top a business on the south-east corner of West Colfax and Simms street. And two years later, on Jan. 26th, 1958, their daughter, Karen was born.

With the demands of a growing family, Lee decided to go work for C.V. Miller-a pipe laying business. He spent many hard-working hours scraping earth and digging trenches with a backhoe for laying all kinds of pipe-water, gas, sewer etc. Then a son, Chris, was born on Dec. 19th, 1959 and Lee decided he needed a more secure job with insurance.

He started working for Ideal Cement Company out near Rocky Flats area close to Boulder. He operated a front-end loader, loading dump trucks which then drove under Hwy 93 to the crusher to be made into light-weight aggregate cement. Many buildings in Denver were constructed of this light-weight material including the Security Life Bldg. in downtown Denver. He worked for this company for 14 years-working shifts-in days, afternoons and nights. He never did get used to shift-work.

During this time, Lee and Ann were able to buy a brand-new red-brick home in 1962 in an area east of Golden, called Pleasant View. This is where he lived for his remaining 57 years, taking care of his family. He worked hard but when it came to vacations, he took them! Many enjoyable hours were spent fishing in favorite rivers, creeks and especially beaver ponds in Colorado, and surrounding western states.

Fishing story: Lee decided to take the family camping and fishing somewhere north of Steamboat Springs. He knew of some good beaver ponds that he wanted to try and fish but it was a rough hike in-maybe 2 or 3 miles. The kids and Ann stayed back in camp to play with their dog, Trina. Trina, on the other hand, had other ideas about staying in camp with the kids and hurried to accompany Lee on his hike to the beaver ponds.

Upon arrival to the beaver ponds, Lee set to fishing, hooking a couple of small brook trout. The dog entertained herself by watching him and sniffing along the ponds. Suddenly, he hooked a big one, but it was fighting him as he was reeling it in. Deciding to get into a better position, he walked out on the good-sized beaver dam, thinking it would hold him up. Trina was whining from the shore-line of the pond as Lee was trying to make his way across the slippery beaver dam. Fighting the hooked trout, he stepped on a log with the water running over it and ker-splash! Into the pond he fell! Dripping wet, he looked over to the dog, who in her wisdom, barked 2 times as if to say, "damn fool", turned her back on Lee and hiked back to camp by herself.

Lee, laughing out loud to himself, managed to climb out of the pond. Needless to say, Lee did not get the "big-one" that day.

Camping in off-the way places or in campgrounds, that is how Lee relaxed. He would have his children hike with him, looking at the ground carefully for Native American arrowheads. He was quite lucky in finding them. He liked traveling to western Iowa where Ann’s family had come from and enjoyed talking to the old farmers and watching them fire-up their antique-steam tractors.

Lee took his family on many vacations in Colorado and the surrounding western states. To Promontory, Utah to the place where the golden-spike was pounded in to commemorate the completion of the trans-continental railway, almost to the exact day, 100 years later. To Deadwood, South Dakota, to see where Wild Bill Hickok met his end holding "the dead-man's hand" and his grave site. To Montana, almost 90 years to the day, to see the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He loved learning about the Native Americans and admired the way they lived-never to waste any part of an animal they had hunted. To Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming where he patiently endured the kids naming every single black bear, they saw in the park from the green Falcon station wagon they traveled in.

Lee loved steam engines and was a life-time member of the Colorado Railroad Museum. He delighted in taking his kids over to the museum to climb on the steam engines outside and look at the model railroad lay-out inside the museum. Of course, there was always a running model train every Christmas under the tree; to the absolute delight of his kids. When taking the kids to Lakeside Amusement Park, he and the family always rode the little steam engine around the lake before riding on anything else. Tiny Town, near Morrison, was also a favorite place to take the family and eventually he took his grandsons there to explore the little town and ride the train, much to their delight. He loved riding the Durango-Silverton and the Cumbres-Toltec trains which he rode with his family several times in his lifetime.

After getting laid-off from the Ideal Cement company, he found a job with Jefferson County Road and Bridge Department driving front-end loaders and big dump trucks. He worked in the “south” shop-on Hwy W-470 and Kipling St. During the winters, he snow-plowed the Ken Caryl Ranch subdivision and southern Jefferson County streets. He retired when he was 62.

His retirement years were spent traveling with his wife Ann, visiting family and new places. He loved wearing his Western plaid cowboy shirts and boots and he either wore a cowboy hat or a farmer’s cap when outside. He loved his grandsons, Daniel and James and bought several yard toys for them, a John Deere wagon and trailer and a push-pedal International red tractor. They brought him much joy. As with his own children, he taught the boys the value of hard work and caring for animals properly. His backyard became a haven for birds and squirrels and foxes and rabbits. He kept the birds fed – through the seasons without fail – taking care of animals was his life-long habit.

In his very later years, he enjoyed watching old Western movies and TV shows in his recliner. He also enjoyed listening to his Hank Snow and Hank Williams Sr. records.

He loved western history-especially the old West and wild places where there was nothing to see but land and sky for miles around. He really wasn't a fan of "civilization". His wife, Ann, often thought, that Lee should have been born in the 1870's and 1880's - 50 to 60 years earlier than 1934.

As his heart started giving out, his mind wandered more into the past. He wouldn’t say much but was lost in a time gone by, moving his hands like they were coiling up a rope or a hose. He was finally moved to a group-home in Lakewood to assist with his dementia and ill-health in May of 2019. Finally, on the morning of June 19th, 2019, he peacefully rode off into trails unknown for the final time.

A graveside service will take place on Wednesday, June 26th at 1:00 PM at Golden Cemetery, 755 Ulysses St, Golden, CO 80401.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.CrownHillFuneral.com for the Hansen family.