William Hurtado Jr.

William “Bill” Hurtado Jr, passed away at the age of 68 after a courageous battle with cancer. Despite the pain and discomfort from his illness, Bill never lost his sense of humor, and he remained strong and determined to fight until the end. He was surrounded by loved ones during his passing. Bill is survived by his wife Mary, his daughter Amanda (Mark), granddaughter Mickayla (Nate) and two great grandchildren, grandson William “Billy”, granddaughter Rachel, and sister Yolanda. Bill was preceded in death by his mother Celia Duran Hurtado, father William Hurtado, and sister Lillian Hurtado.

As a youngster, Bill worked with relatives picking radishes on various local farms. As a teenager through his late twenties, he had employment in restaurants, construction, retail, mining, warehouses, and a tarring company. He eventually spent 16 years working at the Rocky Flats Nuclear plant mainly in production control.

The simplest pleasures in life brought great joy to Bill. He loved to fish and went on numerous weekend fishing trips with his Dad and friends to Lake John near Walden. Bill also fished at Chatfield Dam and Stanley Lake as well as stream fishing with his Dad. If he wasn’t fishing, you would find him spending weekends with his daughter and they would visit family, go to McDonald’s, and sometimes do a little shopping. Those weekends eventually turned into time spent with his grandkids. Grandpa Bill would let them pick out whatever food they wanted and take them to Blockbuster video to pick the movie they wanted to see, or they would go on an adventure to the zoo, movies, swimming, amusement park, and even a cat acrobat show!

Bill loved his vehicles and it showed by the way he kept them cleaned and polished. He could spend hours polishing them in the garage listening to the radio or his cassettes and having “a cool one.” He also enjoyed talking to and negotiating prices with salespeople even though he had no intention of buying a vehicle at the time. His 2017 Chevy Silverado truck was his recent pride and joy that he purchased in June 2017.

He enjoyed a wide range of music—country, blues, rock, oldies from the 50s and 60s (which Amanda called moldy oldies), Tex-Mex and New Mexico artists. He played the guitar since he was a teenager. A few years ago, he taught himself Las Mañanitas on his guitar (a traditional song in Spanish sung to honor a loved one on his/her birthday) and surprised Mary for her birthday.

Bill was a quiet person, but he had a sense of humor that overshadowed that. He was a good listener, a jokester, and enjoyed impersonating people. He loved to visit Central City or Black Hawk and play the slot machines. Sometimes he would return home almost broke, but he would say that he had a great time. Not only did he enjoy playing the slots, but he also enjoyed friendly football bets with Mary. He was a loyal Broncos fan and Mary a Raiders fan. They bet on each Broncos game and the stakes were higher when the Broncos played the Raiders. It goes without saying that these last few years Bill didn’t fare well in those bets, but he never shied away when Mary asked, “Are we betting?”

Bill’s Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., at Olinger Highland Mortuary, 10201 Grant Street in Thornton Co. He will be interred in the cemetery’s cremation garden. If you are unable to attend, you may live stream Bill’s Celebration of Life on his webpage at www.olingerhighland.com and select Join Live Stream on the date and time of his service.

Bill requested no flowers be sent to his Celebration of Life.