Thomas B. Robertson

Tom was born in 1926 to Ora Lee and Luther Robertson at the family farm house in Crowley County, Colorado. Ora Lee said she was canning peaches when she was interrupted long enough to give birth. Along with his older brother, James and their parents, they lived self sufficiently off of their farm just 2 and ½ miles outside of Ordway, Colorado.

He was very athletic growing up with not only the chores and obligations of farm life but also played basketball, football and baseball. He graduated from Ordway High School in 1944 where he was already engaged to the love of his life and now wife of 75 years, Lenore Robertson.

They married in 1945 with World War II looming over them and the eminent draft into the military. Because farming was such an essential task at that time, his enlistment was delayed. At last he received his letter to report to Fort Logan for a physical, sworn in and then waited for the letter to see where and when to report in. The next letter he received, however, told him the war was over and he no longer needed to report in.

He continued to farm and soon they had 4 small children to care for, Thomas, Leora, Vickie and James. They had some close calls, including carbon monoxide poisoning when Lenore went into labor with Jim and a severe drought that made farming difficult and had him seeking another lifestyle to support his family.

In 1954, the Robertson family moved to Denver where initially Tom looked for a job with the phone company. As fate would have it, he was led to a job with Public Service Utilities. His father tried to talk him out of it saying that the company was too big and wouldn't take care of its employees the way his family could on the farm. He took the job anyway. He said they hired him because he was a farmer and knew he could do any odd job they handed him.

They bought a small house until they purchased their forever home around 1958. Here they added 2 more children, Karen and Ken. Now a family of eight, he did everything in his power to provide a life he felt his wife and children deserved even if it meant working midnight and double shifts. He eventually worked his way up to a Shift Supervisor and Engineer. He was his own plumber, carpenter, gardener, electrician and mechanic. He was an all around handy man that extended not only at home but at church, the neighborhood and any other call for help from family and friends.

Retiring in 1986, he was just short of 32 years working for Public Service. As it turned out, the company took excellent care of him with a pension and health insurance that provided him and Lenore with opportunities to travel, relax and enjoy life in their golden years. His “retirement” included giving tours of DIA when it initially opened in the mid 90's and a 2 year stint in Lake Port, Ca. to set up a new Thermal Powered Plant with his expertise in generators. He volunteered to do taxes as a service provided by the church and operated their sound system.

For fun, he joined a hot air balloon club and attended as many races, ballgames, concerts and plays performed by any of his kids or grandchildren. He loved to travel and made a couple of trips to England, Scotland in 1988, Germany and a Scandinavian tour in 1990, a visit to Australia in 1993 and a Blue Danube Cruise in 1997. He loved life and cherished his faith, family and friends without ever losing sight of his priorities.

Even in the depths of the debilitating disease of Alzheimer's and Dementia, he always managed a smile and blew a kiss to his loved ones when he couldn't do much more than that. His kindness and love shined through even during the most trying of times for him.

He was predeceased by his parents, Ora and Luther Robertson, his brother James and his daughter Leora. He is survived by his wife, Lenore Robertson, Rob (Marilyn) Robertson, Vickie (Mel) Clark, Jim (Martha) Robertson, Karen (Raul) Chavez, Ken (Pam) Robertson, along with 14 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers please send your generous donation to The American Cancer Society or Brentwood United Methodist Church.