Theodore 'ted' Archuleta

Theodore Archuleta, long-time Longmont community activist and former member of the St. Vrain Valley school board, died Feb. 19 at a hospice in Greeley. He was 89. He was born on Dec. 20, 1919, on a farm southwest of Longmont and lived in Longmont most of his life. Because of health problems, the last few years he lived with his daughter and son-in-law at Johnstown. Mr. Archuleta, known as Ted to friends and family and ""Colonel"" to others, had been hospitalized briefly with pneumonia. Although he had been in poor health for several years, he seldom missed a Friday morning meeting in Longmont of the Golden K Kiwanis Club. He had served as president of the chapter and regional Lt. Governor. He continued to be active, and traveled to Nice, France, and to Taipei, Taiwan, to attend the club's international conventions.Mr. Archuleta attended Central ""grade"" school and in 1938 was graduated from Longmont high school. At Central, he had the same teacher his mother had when she attended the school. Later, his daughters and granddaughter also were pupils at Central school. Mr. Archuleta attended Denver University until the beginning of World War II. Immediately after Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941, he enlisted as a cadet in the Army Air Corps. Trained as a bombardier, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant, and shortly afterward flew in a B-17 to England. At that time the U.S. had no long-range fighter planes to protect the bombers, and the B-17's were on their own shortly after crossing the English Channel. The Longmont bombardier survived 25 of the most hazardous missions of the air war over Europe. He was on the first ""shuttle"" raid in August 1943 when the bombers hit aircraft production plants at Regensburg, Germany, then flew on to North Africa. Archuleta's plane nearly ran out of fuel while crossing the Mediterranean and barely made it to a dry lake bed in Algeria. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and five Air Medals. He also was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation with oak leaf cluster, for two successful bombing raids on Schweinfurt, site of a ball bearing plant critical to the German war effort. He completed his 25 missions prior to the Normandy invasion, and then went on tour promoting the sale of war bonds. He finished active duty as an instructor at Ardmore, Okla., Air Base and then joined the Air Force Reserve. He retired from the Reserves with the rank of colonel after a total of 32 years of service. He never missed the annual reunion of his 8th Air Force 390th Bomb Group, and attended the most recent reunion in September at San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Archuleta married Marie Miller at Walla Walla, Wash., during his bombardier training at that city. They had been married 62 years at the time she passed away on Jan. 13, 2006. She had taught adult education for the St. Vrain Valley School District and also was the founder of Samaritan House, a charity of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church of Longmont. In 1945, Mr. Archuleta resumed his studies at Denver University and was graduated in 1947. He later earned a Master's degree from what was then known as Colorado State College at Greeley. He sold school supplies for many years and then was business manager of the Boulder Valley School District. He left that job for an appointment as dean of business operations at Colorado's first community college, north of Denver. He supervised the construction of the campus as well as the construction of other community college campuses in the Denver metro area. After leaving the college job, Mr. Archuleta was named purchasing administrator for the Boulder Valley school district, and later was purchasing manager for Boulder County. He held that job until his retirement. Always active in community affairs, he was twice elected to the St. Vrain Valley Board of Education. In addition to his Kiwanis membership, Mr. Archuleta served as president of the Longmont Junior Chamber of Commerce in the 1950s. He also was a member of Denver U. chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, the American Legion and was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Survivors include a daughter, Emily Archuleta and her husband, Brian Osell, of Johnstown; a son, Terence Archuleta and his wife, Alicia; four grandchildren, Bryann (Jeff) Trainer of Kansas City, Mo., Matthew (Robin) Brunk of Longmont, Colo., Misty (Jason) Retchless of Johnstown, and Kathryn Marie of San Antonio, Texas. Six great-grandchildren also survive. A daughter, Teddi Ann, passed away in 1995. Other survivors are a sister, Irene Bigelow, and a brother, Gerald, both of Denver; and son in law, Chris Welsh. His parents, E. P. and Sophia (Sanchez) Archuleta, who had moved to Longmont in 1910 from Mead, preceded him in death.Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 26, 2009 at Howe Mortuary, Longmont, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Family will greet friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27, 2009 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 323 Collyer St., Longmont. Interment with full military honors will be in Foothills Gardens of Memory, Longmont.Memorial donations may be made to the Longmont Golden K Kiwanis, the American Parkinson's Disease Foundation, or the Alzheimer's Association, c/o Howe Mortuary, 439 Coffman St., Longmont, CO 80501.Please share thoughts, memories and condolences with his family at www.howemortuary.com.