Milton Ronald Ground

Long-time Lakewood, Colorado resident Milton Ronald Ground died on September 8th, surrounded by family. He was born in 1934 in Hastings, Nebraska to Charles and Ella Ronnfeldt Ground. He grew up in Casper, Wyoming, and graduated from Natrona High School in 1952. Milt attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and ROTC. Upon graduation in 1957 with a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering, he was commissioned into the United States Army Corps of Engineers. In addition to his studies, he found Anne Darlene Creighton, who became his wife in the fall of 1957. They were married for over 50 years, separated by her death in 2008.

While in the Army he was stationed at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, then Ft. Lewis, Washington, where his son Keith was born. While stationed there, he was deployed to the San Simeon area in California to build roads.

Milt and Darlene returned to Colorado in 1960 and had a daughter, Karen, in 1961. With Keith and Karen underfoot, construction began on what was to become "The House that Milt Built," also the scene of the birth of another daughter Kristen, in 1962.

He went to work for his father-in-law, running the par-three Colfax West Golf Course and Bogey's Restaurant. Following that, he decided to use his chemical engineering degree and went to work in the oil and gas industry at a time when knowledge was exported. His decision led to an amazing experience for the Ground family, when in 1970, they moved to England. After extensive travel throughout Europe during that time, the adventure was capped off by a one-month return journey--the long way around the globe in 1973.

Milt made another career change to become a commercial real estate broker, enabling the family to stay in Lakewood. In addition to being the breadwinner, he "enjoyed" operas and symphonies with Darlene, fishing, playing golf, racquetball and tennis, and was very active in his children's lives (expanded to include Andrew Brown, and Tomas and Stephan Arnewid): he drove the horse trailer, loaded motorcycles, and watched wrestling matches, horse shows, and football and soccer games, and he managed to help five teens learn to drive.

Then came weddings, followed by five grandkids, so he attended even more activities, including debate competitions, football, baseball, basketball, ballet, track, and all of their graduations--kindergarten, high school, and college. Phew!

He didn't stop there. Milt was tireless. He was an accomplished woodworker, having made a full-size table with an inlaid chess board, coffee tables, a maple butcher block, a China hutch, dog house, garden sheds, cutting boards, backyard decks, waterbed frames, book shelves, étagères, and a "shabin" in the mountains, plus helping with two kitchen remodels and a hardwood floor replacement. Note: he did stop for Broncos games.

Milt's most admirable qualities were not what he did or saw, but rather who he was--his sense of humor, his work ethic, and his steadfast optimism. His children and grandchildren had such a powerful role model. He was also very fortunate to have been introduced to Ange Donelson, who, after having lost her husband, shared several memorable years with Milt. She and her family discovered the caring, laughter-filled man many have known for years.

He is survived by his sister, Dolores Ground Perkins, and niece, Jan Perkins, three children: Keith Ground, Karen Ground Strelko, and Kristen Ground Stowell, five grandchildren, Andrew Ground, Matthew Ground, and Kateri Ground Nutt, Claire Stowell Bernhardt, Kent Stowell, and one great-grandson on the way.