George "Dusty" Earl Otten

George Earl “Dusty” Otten, Jr, passed away at Life Care Center in Longmont on January 27, 2018. He was 91 years old. He was born April 20, 1926 in French, NM, to the late George and Freda Loma (McChesney) Otten, Sr. George grew up and attended grade school in Alamosa before moving with his family to Pueblo, Colorado. He graduated from Centennial High School class of 1945. However, during the end of his junior year in high school, George was drafted into the United States Army. He would ultimately be stationed in Italy.

After his honorable discharge from the Army, he returned to Pueblo and attended community college. In July of 1947, he married his high school sweetheart, Virginia Smith. They would eventually be blessed with eight children.

Early in his working life, George worked for a plumbing company for a few years before taking a position with Sears in Aurora, Colorado where he was a manager of three divisions. After three years working with Sears, George moved to Monte Vista and became a District Manager for COOP. After three years with that company, he was offered a position with Standard Oil Company in Durango. With Standard Oil, George was able to purchase his own agency and over the course of the next six years, distributed gasoline to outlying farms and gas stations. During this time, George was developing and designing the first automated do-it-yourself car wash this side of the Mississippi in Durango. He would go on to build five more car washes in Englewood, Littleton and Denver. It was during this time, he would move his family to Denver in 1965.

While living in the Denver area and following his divorce, he met and fell in love with Joanne Davis. They were married in 1984. George’s parents eventually passed away, so in 1996, he decided to sell his car washes, retire, and moved back to Ft. Lupton to run the family farm. It was during his retirement, George decided to pursue mining- a hobby and passion he had since he was a young man. He currently owns a mine in Central City and a mill in Blackhawk. In 2013, health issues and other ailments forced him to give up his hands-on operation of both the mine and mill.

Throughout George’s life, he had other interests and hobbies. He loved the old western movies. Among his favorites were Paint Your Wagon and Lonesome Dove. He was a lover of all animals- chickens, cows, cats and dogs. George had several special pets of his own- his cow, Kathy Sue; dogs, Molly, Cindy Lou and Uma and his cat, Panda. He even had a special goose named Fred. He will finally be reunited with these special pets. George also enjoyed and had a talent for gardening. He was especially fond of his vegetable garden and every spring looked forward to planting. His family believes that when he was not able to continue his gardening, the end was approaching.

George was an exceptional person. He had intelligence, wit, a great sense of humor and truly enjoyed people. He was a popular man and was always the life of the party. He loved to tease and had a knack for telling jokes…even if it was the same joke told repeatedly. He will truly be missed by all who knew him.

George is survived by his wife, Joanne of Ft. Lupton; children, Belva Shaffer of Pueblo, Darrell (Cathy) Otten of Farmington, NM, Carolyn (John) DiFalco of Ft. Collins, Doug (Shannon) Otten of Blackhawk, Steve (Deb) Otten of Durango, Cheryl Otten of Ft. Lupton, Chris Otten of Golden and Deann (Dustin) Barber of Texas; step-children, Danny Davis, Mark (Diane) Davis both of Westminster, Kathy (Jim) Smolinski of Denver, Karen (Russ) Rasmussen of Forney, Texas and Tony (Tammy) Davis of Bothell, Washington; sister, Arlene McGraw of Denver; 25 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. In addition to his parents, George was preceded in death by his great grandson, Avidas Boller; son-in-law, Jim Shaffer and brother-in-law, Bill McGraw.

Visitation will be 9am-10am, Saturday, February 3, 2018 at Howe Mortuary followed by a graveside service at 10:30am at Mtn. View Cemetery in Longmont. A Celebration of Life Ceremony will be at 11:30am in the Howe Mortuary Chapel followed by a reception at the mortuary.

Memorial Contributions may be given to The Longmont Humane Society, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont, CO 80501.