Richard Norton Qualls

Dick Qualls was a driver. Or driven. Or something like it. Richard Norton Qualls was born on September 23, 1928 in Denver, Colorado. His parents, Major and Myrtle (Thompson) Qualls already had a daughter, Norma Jean. Major began farming east of Aurora and the family commuted from Denver to the farm. The driving began. Dick graduated from Denver South High School in 1946 and left to drive to Abilene Texas where he attended and graduated from Abilene Christian College. While there he was manager for the football team and basketball team. He also drove the team bus, all over Texas. Dick met Barbara at Abilene. They married in her hometown of Irving Texas on April 2, 1950. They drove to Arkansas for their honeymoon where Dick almost got in trouble trying to race the police chief at a traffic light. They drove to Abilene for graduation and drove to Denver to live. Dick joined his father and new brother in law in a farming and ranching operation that included rented and owned ground in Adams County and cattle ranch in Elbert County. More driving. Moving tractors, combines, trucks and equipment between farms. All before hydraulic equipment that folded up. This was equipment that got moved with muscle power and ¦driving. Times were tough in the 50s. Prices were low, so Dick got a job in Littleton teaching PE in elementary school. Dick and Barbara had built a house in Aurora. Near Major. More driving, from Aurora to Littleton every day of the school year. He also drove a school bus after he got to Littleton. Those were the old days when teachers did double and triple duty sometimes. Did I mention that every Sunday, Dick would drive on to Lowry Air Force Base to give a ride to church to any airmen who were so inclined. Many also got a ride home for a Sunday dinner with the Qualls family. More driving.He kept teaching, moving to the high school. Where he stayed for 25+ years. He had some of the students that he'd had in elementary school and then stayed around long enough to have their kids as students. He started coaching. Assistant football and wrestling coach. He started the gymnastics team at Littleton. Although he had never competed in gymnastics, he learned the sport. There is no photographic evidence, but he could do giants and a fly away off the high bar, not bad for a man who tipped the scales at around 230 or 240. That has nothing to do with driving, but interesting. During this time, he went to Greeley one or two nights a week to earn his master's degree. More driving. He quit coaching football and wrestling and began a career of refereeing. Football, wrestling and basketball. All over Colorado. More driving. Every Friday and Saturday night. All fall and winter. 6 and 8-man football. All over eastern rural Colorado. Dick and Barbara bought an irrigated farm near Longmont in 1962. He rented it out but went up to Longmont frequently to help his renter. He liked to work. Also more driving. In 1971, Dick and Barbara moved out to just off Parker Road, southeast of Aurora. Dick lost his license for a little while. Too much fast driving. Barbara drove the farm truck that summer while Dick built a new house with the help of his dad and brother in law. Barbara was not happy with Dick's driving that year, to say the least.Just one more point about his teaching career. He switched from PE to teaching health education. Every student at the high school had to take one semester of his health class to graduate. That meant that every student that went through Littleton had Dr. Qualls as a teacher. He gave every class his home phone number. He told them call me anytime you might need a ride home, maybe too much to drink or drugs possibly. More driving. He also took several students to their first AA meeting. Several times he was invited to their first anniversary AA meeting. He was actually asked to perform a wedding service for a former student. It's maybe overused these days, but he had a passion for helping students. He started one of the first drug abuse awareness programs in the state. That is part of the reason that he was a finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year in 1983. Maybe driven is the right word here. In 1976 he let his oldest son try his hand at farming in Longmont. He came to Longmont all summer, every summer, to help. More driving. When his son quit farming in 1997, Dick, who had retired from school teaching by now, continued the custom windrowing operation his son had started. While still living in Aurora. More driving. Finally, Dick and Barbara sold the house off Parker Road and moved to Longmont. But they bought a condo in Tampa, Florida, and spent the winters down there and the summers in Longmont. Did I mention they drove back and forth and that when in Florida he drove a golf cart and when in Colorado he continued to drive his windrower. He drove the windrower till 2 years ago, when he was 87 and could not physically get up the ladder into the swather. He didn't want to quit driving. He was forced to. Dick will be buried in Irving Texas. In a family cemetery of Barbara's grandmother family. His kids are taking him down there. More driving. He is survived by his wife, Barbara. 2 sons and 2 daughters. Mark and Denise Qualls of Longmont. Matt and L'Von Qualls of Tampa, Florida. Shannon and Guthrie Nelson of Temple Terrace Florida. Erin and Mike Krek of Atlanta Georgia. 16 grand-children and 22 great-grand-children.