Robert "Bob" W. Rohloff

Bob was born in June 1930 to Helen and Herman Rohloff in Detroit, Michigan. When anyone asked him where he was from, he liked to say, "the south ----- south Detroit". Despite being an only child, he had many friends in the neighborhood to play with so he was never lonely. When he was around ten years old the local First Congregational Church partnered with the local Boy Scout troop to give at risk kids in the neighborhood something to do --- Bob included!! He loved being involved in scouting and became an Eagle Scout and then a Troop leader himself. It was hard to find any pictures of his scouting days because he found a love of photography and was always behind the camera not in front of it. He swept floors and cleaned up at a local photography studio so he could learn the tools of the trade from the owner. Eventually, he was allowed to work in the dark room and develop film. He took great joy in the magic of seeing an image he took emerge from the tray of chemicals and become a finished picture. His family had a cabin on Harsens Island and he spent many wonderful days with his buddies fishing, catching frogs and having the many adventures boys think up when they have lots of wilderness and the time to just explore. Because Michigan has so many bodies of water, he also excelled at being a Sea Scout and loved canoeing on the lakes. He was an excellent swimmer and was a lifeguard for many years.

In his early twenties, he met the love of his life, Norma Zaske, at a square dance. He got her name and that she lived at the local YWCA but nothing else. With no phone number or room number, he had to spend any free time and evenings after work waiting in the lobby trying to see her again. His determination finally paid off and they were married in September of 1954. He had tried to enlist in the Army with his buddies but was classified 4-F, so they bought a small house and settled into married life. Then, as fate would have it, he was drafted and posted to Ft. Carson in Colorado!! Norma soon joined him, and they both fell in love with Colorado, making it their home ever since. First in Colorado Springs, Denver, Lakewood and finally Golden since 1975. They started a family with daughter Rosalyn in 1960, followed by two boys, Russell and Richard, each a couple of years apart.

They had always enjoyed square dancing -- it was a time to escape the children and have some grown up time together and a great way to stay in shape. They got involved in running the Square Dance Council and were Presidents from 1969 thru 1970. Bob was instrumental in creating Fiesta Time '69, which was the first large square dance festival held in Denver with dancers from all over Colorado and the region. They traveled to weekly dances all over the state, finally bringing the children as they got older.

Bob always loved camping and the outdoors and with all Colorado had to offer that adventure continued. He bought a Ford pick up with a camper shell and using his carpentry skills, he made built in cabinets and pull outs to create a home away from home. He and the family joined Mitchell Camper Caravans and spent many memorable nights in the wilderness by a campfire. He instilled a love of the outdoors in all his children and gave us many happy memories.

Once the kids were old enough to join the Westernaires, he fully embraced the organization as well. Westernaires teaches kids to ride horses and advance to doing intricate riding drills at a full gallop. He was an instructor for new riders, "Tenderfeet", and helped them gain confidence and lose their fear of those HUGE horses. He was known as Mr. Rohloff to the kids because Westernaires also had strict rules about manners, civility and decorum. He also instructed the weekly class in grooming and horse care and endured each fall getting covered in itchy horse hair when he clipped the entire herd of rental horses to get them ready for winter. He enjoyed being involved in all aspects of the organization from performing in the shows, to helping build the large indoor riding arena to being a member of the Posse. He drove his kids and their horses to the weekly practices, rodeos, shows and parades all over the state without one complaint (or at least not many). He was the rock we could count on to make our dreams come true.

Because Bob and Norma decided to have their kids join Westernaires, ( "It will keep them off the streets") they developed a lifelong love of animals. His son Russ bought a ranch of his own near Wellington, Colorado, raising cattle and helping his girls find their own joy in 4-H. Bob's other son Richard was interested in track, wrestling and trying his hand at cooking which he pursued but always kept a love for his dogs. Bob's daughter Rosalyn, being a girl with a love of horses from a very young age, went on to ride and show hunter/jumper horses which gave him a new outlet to explore and stay involved. He created his own public address system which he could set up at horse shows and became an announcer and a timer system to clock the fastest horses. Being good with tools, Bob made many fences for the horses to jump over. When he was younger, Bob had taken a Dale Carnegie course to improve his public speaking skills and he LOVED to talk to people. This served him well when he became the Stable Supervisor at National Western Stock Show and other horse shows. He could talk to cowboys, gaited horse riders, rodeo clowns, corporate sponsors or anyone else who stopped by for an ever present cup of coffee in his office. ( I think his three greatest loves were Norma, coffee and talking, in that order). He thought everyone had something interesting to say and it was best shared over a cup of coffee.

He retired from Mountain Bell Telephone Company with over thirty years of service. He worked on many different kinds of telephone and telecom systems. When he first started, it was with Michigan Bell and one of his best memories was going to the Ford Motor Company's headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan and fixing Henry Ford's private telephone lines and meeting the great man himself. After Bob retired he started his own pay phone company. He installed and collected pay phones up and down the front range long before everyone had cell phones. It was a perfect fit for him -- traveling the beautiful state, talking with people from all walks of life, coffee to go at every stop and still being able to do what he loved with his family when he wanted.

After he sold the company, Bob enjoyed spending time in Central City and Blackhawk playing the poker machines. He had always enjoyed the actual game of poker, whether playing with family at gatherings or at his poker nights with the guys. He loved going to Las Vegas back in the days of dollar foot long hot dogs, five dollar buffets (that actually served great food) and the old coin slot machines. His biggest win was a $30,000 tournament in Vegas and he got a big kick out of flying the family out to celebrate with him!!!

He loved seeing his children and later his grandchildren grow up and succeed on their different paths in life. He was so proud at all the graduations, wedding and family celebrations. He was a wonderful husband and would have celebrated his 69th wedding anniversary this September with Norma still by his side. She was the one he wanted to spend his whole life with and he did so right to the end. Bob was on this earth for 93 years and lived a long and full life and a wonderful one to boot. He will be greatly missed.

Bob is survived by his wife Norma, his children Rosalyn Rohloff, Russ (Julie) Rohloff, his grandchildren Kacey Rohloff, Jamie (Luke) Rohloff, Rachel Smith and was preceded in death by his son Richard Rohloff