Grant W. Oakes

Grant William (Bill) Oakes, Jr., was called from this earth on Thursday morning, November 17th ,2022. He was preceded in death by his father, Grant William Oakes, Sr., his mother, Pearl Mae Oakes (Kerr), four sisters, and his son, Gary Allen Oakes. Grant is survived by his son, Steven (Maryann) Oakes, Grant’s ex-wife, Betty (Friend) Oakes, and granddaughters, AnnaMarie (Kevin) Neal and Bocote Potter, and eight great-grandchildren. Grant was born in Topeka, KS and grew up in Walsh, CO, graduating from Walsh High School where he was the Athletic Manager for the school’s teams. He and his good friend, Dennis Dunnivan, left for Denver together to train and get certified as Electronic Technicians to take advantage of the new age of radio and television repair. That is when Grant moved to Pueblo, CO.

He met and married Betty Friend and they had two children, and moved into their first house across the street from East high School. Grant began his journey as an entrepreneur and bought Bill Cook’s TV Repair shop from Bill Cook at 13th St and Santa Fe in Pueblo, but kept the name. He branded the business with bright yellow Datsun wagons and cargo vans and logos that were easily recognized by almost anyone in Pueblo. As technology changed, so did the shop. He expanded to repairing Microwave ovens, VCRs, and DVD players. He moved the shop to the corner of 8th and Grand in downtown Pueblo and they offered drive-through and drop-off repair. Business was so good, he eventually opened a shop on Fillmore in Colorado Springs, CO, and began transporting those units daily to Pueblo where local technicians would repair them, and then return them to Colorado Springs. During this period, he designed and built the first of two custom homes. Shortly after that expansion, Grant became obsessed with what he saw as the future of electronics and computers. He taught himself BASIC programming, and continued to explore this new opportunity, including building some of his own from parts he ordered. He began handing off management duties for the repair shop and opened a personal computer store in the corner office of that building – Best Buys Computers. He again began to brand this new venture on local radio stations using the tag line, “Best Buuuuys Computers, the BEST computers you can Buy!” Best Buys Computers was quickly successful, and he began to build custom computers, install operating systems, offered training, delivery and setup, and repair, continuing to learn more about technology each year and ramped up to four employees. He travelled to Las Vegas numerous years for the annual computer conventions, sometime taking both sons with him for the trip and experience. The business continued to grow, and he eventually moved the operations again, this time to the corner of Northern and Prairie. This facility had a dedicated training center, repair and parts area, sales offices, a showroom floor, and as many as thirteen employees. It was around this time that he designed and built his second custom home, which was one of the first in Pueblo to have geothermal heating/cooling system to minimize utility expenses and “go green”. As the Internet began to explode, Grant took advantage of that opportunity as well and began working on Virtual Pueblo, and website way ahead of its time. It would include listings of local businesses, their address and phone numbers to help promote other entrepreneurs and larger companies, all sorted by categories. Sound familiar to any other global websites you may know? He eventually sold Best Buys Computers to his employees who rebranded the store. Grant decided to semi-retire, but continued to work for himself as a financial advisor, mortgage/reverse mortgage lender, internet marketer, mobile app designer, social media marketer. He continued to enjoy working on computers almost every day of his life. He was truly one of those gadget people. He also enjoyed working with wood in his garage, including building tools like lathes and table sanders by following YouTube channels. Grant never gave up, it wasn’t in him. He endured several obstacles; tuberculosis, loss of a kidney, both knees replaced, heart attacks, emphysema, and none of them stopped him striving to help others and his family. Grant was known as a kind, polite, and old-school ethical man. Even in his 80’s he would want to hold the door open for you to walk through first and was willing to help in any way that he could. He supported our military and veterans, freedom, and believed in God, whom he went to meet last week. To honor Grant’s memory, we are holding a celebration of their life on November 28th, 2022 at Imperial Memorial Gardens - Garden of Hope at 11:00am, a reception at the Imperial Reception Hall onsite will immediately follow. We invite anyone who knew Grant to attend and remember his wonderful life.

Please, in lieu of flowers, donate to a charity of your choice in his name.

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