Robert Walter Echter

Bob was born on July 13, 1920, in Worthington, Minnesota, to George Paul and Opal Irene Echter (Cramer). Bob grew up with his three brothers in Sibley, Iowa, where their family had greenhouses and a retail floral shop. After high school, he moved to Southern California where he worked in a bank in Hollywood before joining the Army Air Corps in 1942. While stationed in Big Spring, Texas, he met his future wife, Mary Kathleen Lumpkins. Bob and Mary were married on October 19, 1945, in Tampa, Florida. They eventually moved to Colorado Springs and then to Fort Collins, where Bob graduated with a degree in horticulture from Colorado A&M (CSU). Bob and his brother, Jim, started Echter's Greenhouses in Arvada in 1959. Bob eventually took over the business where he raised award-winning carnations for many years before it was transformed into the current garden center. While Bob ran the business, Mary raised their six children, but they often vacationed together taking road trips across the country.

In 1989, after they sold the business to their sons, Steve and Dave, they traveled the world, enjoyed time at their mountain cabin near Mount Princeton, and spent time with their family. Bob enjoyed fishing, driving his Jeep, going to Denver Bronco games, gardening, and playing with his grandchildren. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

Bob passed peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by his children and grandchildren during the evening of November 6, 2017.

Bob is survived by his brother, Jim; his six children, Steven, Randall (Rolene), Susan Bjugstad (Dan), Dana (Lorraine), David (Anne), and Tamara (Soon Beng); eleven grandchildren, Kate, Robin, Charles, Anna, Christopher, Natalie, Daniel, Nicholas, Autumn, Jeffrey and Julie; and his seven great-grandchildren, Ayanna, Kaitlin, Sara, Emma, Bradley, Jackson and Hazel. He was preceded in death by his wife Mary, his parents, and his brothers, Paul and Don.

A memorial service for Bob will be held on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at 9:00 am at Olinger Crown Hill Pavilion, 29th & Wadsworth.

Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice in Bob’s loving memory.

Arrangements under the direction of Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary, Cemetery & Arboretum, Wheat Ridge, CO.