Calvin Kepler Oram

He is survived by his wife, Annemarie, son Peter, daughter-in-law Colette, brother Pete, sister Beth Butler, his dog Gracie, and two grandsons, Riley and Logan.

Kip was born in Brookline Massachusetts to William and Betty Oram. Kip attended schools in New Jersey, Japan, South Carolina, and Alaska. He graduated from Newport News H.S., Newport News, Va in 1963. He chose the University of Colorado, sight unseen, because he loved the mountains. Kip graduated from the University of Colorado in 1969 with a BA in Psychology. After college, Kip was commissioned into the United States Marine Corp from 1969 to 1974, eventually receiving the rank of Captain. After the military he began his career in the lumber industry, with his first job at Foster/Diamond Lumber in Boulder as a truck driver. In 1980 he agreed to move to sunny Laramie Wyoming to become the manager of Diamond's local lumber yard. After the longest year of his wife’s life, they moved back to Boulder and he became the manager of the Boulder store where he served as manager from 1981 to 1985. In 1985, in what turned out to be the smartest move of his career, he moved to Alpine Lumber and became the manager of their Louisville store. After years of hard work within the company, he became the President of Alpine Lumber in 1991. During his time as president, Alpine flourished, expanded, and became a highly successful company. Kip retired as President in 2005. He joined the Board of Directors in 1991, and became the Chairman in 2000. He served as the Chairman until April 20th, 2023.

In addition to his full time job running Alpine Lumber, he also found time to be active in other organizations. He served as Vice President on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Easterseals. His main passion with Easterseals was to rebuild their Rocky Mountain Village Camp which serves children and adults with disabilities. He served as President of the Board of the Home Builders Foundation of Metro Denver. He also chaired the HBA’s Charities and Community Services Committee and the Downtown Louisville Redevelopment Committee.

While he did work a lot, the most important part in his life was his family and his dogs! He loved his wife of 56 years dearly. After retirement, they traveled the world together with friends, took up western dancing (Kip took dance lessons to surprise Anne because she loved to dance and he didn’t know how), played golf (which was a constant source of frustration), bowled as a couple, and spent time with their dogs. Kip had a passion for fast cars, sports, hunting, the Marines, and shooting. Kip's favorite activity was spending time with his grandsons. He took them swimming, shooting, golfing, attended all their sporting events, carted them to CU games, and ALWAYS loaded them up with sugar!

He will be dearly missed by everyone he touched over his 79 year journey. His incredible generosity with his time, support, and money will never be forgotten!

If you would like to make a memorial contribution, please consider donating to Easterseals in his name. https://axeqntxt.donorsupport.co/page/support