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Donald Richard Wills
In Loving Memory
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Born
April 11, 1931 - Arriba, Colorado
Passed Away
July 25, 2010 - Englewood, Colorado
Donald Richard Wills, 79, passed away July 25, 2010. Born April 11, 1931 to Pearl and Marie Wills in Arriba, CO. He spent his life growing up on the family farm. He was the second of four children; an older brother Victor, a younger sister Dorothy and a younger brother James. While attended Arriba High School he was involved in school plays, was his class Treasurer, but his love was football. He was the captain of the football team and played center. The summer of his junior year his parents moved to the Rim Rock Ranch in Elbert. He stayed in Arriba and lived with his Uncle Fred and Aunt Sarah Klann and their sons Warren and Doug. There he helped them work their farm, and finished out his senior year playing football and graduated valedictorian of his class.
After high school he joined the Army. This was during the time of the Korean War, but he was blessed to be stationed in Germany. He was in the 431 Roster in engineering and artillery. Even then he was a talkative man and made friends easily. He became friends with the Commander of his unit and they shared a secret – the warmest place to sleep was on top of the piles of potatoes. In his free time he toured the German countryside and took hundreds of pictures of the scenery. He served 4 years before returning home where he remained in active duty as a reservist for another 6 years.
Upon returning the senior class of 1955 asked him if he would drive their class to the Grand Canyon for their senior sneak trip. On that trip he met and fell in love with Shirley Tweedy. After dating for a year, he asked her to marry him. They were married in the spring of 1956. At that time he was in construction and built houses in the Englewood area.
In February of 1958 his first son, Kendall Wayne, was born. He was the apple of his eye and he quickly stepped up to the plate of being a great dad. Two short years later a second son, Brian Keith, was born in August of 1960.
In 1964 he and Shirley decided to build a new home in Elbert. They built the red brick house that is still in the middle of Elbert. It was built with a second front door to accommodate an office for the business that he was buying from Shirley’s father, Frank Tweedy. He bought Tweedy Transfer that same year. As owner and operator of the business he made deliveries all over Elbert and Douglas county.
With a bustling business and a beautiful home they decided that they wanted a daughter. So in December of 1968 they adopted Kimberly Aileen at 6 weeks old. Now the boys were old enough to start teaching them to play football, shoot guns and hunt. When he wasn’t doing that he was pulling weeds in the large garden that he always planted, and immaculately maintaining his yard.
He was active in the community serving on the school board for 12 years; the fire department for over 30 years and attending the Elbert Christian Church on Sundays and was baptized there. He also was a certified EMT which meant his home was the local medical check station for many bumps, cuts, accidents, medical assessments or just general TLC for the younger generation.
As his children continued to grow he understood the value of family time. Weekends were spent fishing not just with his immediate family, but his brother-in-laws and their families. Many memories were made on those weekends. He could spend his life fishing.
He was a devoted father supporting all of his children’s endeavors. He attended his first basketball game in September of 1969 and his last in December of 1986…and he never missed one. There were also many volleyball games and baseball games, including coaching his sons baseball teams.
As his kids grew and started families of their own, he found a new role, that of loving grandfather. His first attempts at babysitting after many years left black rings around on the mouths of his first two grandsons from his tailpipe. After that he realized that the best place for his grandkids were on his lap and that ice cream, Twinkies and apple slices were the best way to keep them busy. He loved his grandkids and wanted to spend as much time with them as he could. Soon he had beautiful 6 grandkids; Joshua, Nicholas, Kristin, Kendall Jr., Grace and Grant and he was as proud as he could be of each one. Now most of them are grown and starting families of their own they have provided him with the additionally blessing of 4 great-grandchildren; Cory, Elizabeth, Bailey and Lily-Jo. Through all the years his gentleness, kindness and love always beamed from him when he had one of them on his lap.
After selling Tweedy Transfer he continued to drive trucks for other companies. In 1988 the decision was made to move from Elbert to reduce his commute and they moved to Aurora. In 1998 he retired and they moved to Arvada.
In 1999 he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and the beginning of his battle began, but through it all he always carried a smile and still always loved to talk. He developed new interests; he enjoyed painting a great deal and whether it was a picture, a birdhouse, or a ceramic it gave him great pride and happiness. He also decided that he liked cucumbers and olives after 60-some years of hating them.
Through his struggles, Shirley remained by his side tending to his every need. She kept him home longer than most caregivers. In October 2009 he was admitted to the Veterans Home at Fitzsimons. He enjoyed sharing military stories with his comrades but the darkness of Alzheimer’s continued to take over. In May 2010 it was recommended that he be placed in Hospice at Julia Temple, with the anticipation that he only had a few weeks – but he was more of a fighter than anyone gave him credit for. He battled for the next few months until pneumonia took over, and even then he fought. In his last gift to Shirley, he pulled through all of the darkness and had one last day that he called her by name and had conversations with her. He knew that for months that was all she had asked for.
Donald Richard Wills lost his battle with Alzheimer’s on July 25, 2010. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Shirley Wills, two sons and one daughter, six grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. Left to cherish his memories are son Kendall Wills and his wife Sarah of Flagler; Matthew and Kristin Gallagher and their daughter Bailey; and Kendall Wills Jr. Son; Brian Wills and his wife Patti of Watkins, CO; Joshua and Rebecca Wills; Nicholas and Carol Wills and his son Corey, daughters Elizabeth and Lily-Jo; Daughter Kimberly Wills of Elizabeth, CO and her daughter Grace and son Grant. Also left behind are his sister Dorothy Pope of Parker, CO, one brother Victor Wills and his sister-in-law Robbie Wills of Pueblo, CO, along with numerous family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother James Wills. He will be buried with honors in the Fort Logan National Cemetery. To celebrate the life of this devoted husband, dedicated father, loving grandfather and cherished friend a memorial services will be at the Elbert Christian Church in Elbert, CO on July 31, 2010 at 11:00 a.m., pot-luck reception to follow at the Elbert Grange Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his name to the Alzheimer’s Association or The Julia Temple Nursing Home. Special thanks must also be given to Denver Hospice for their care of him and his family during his final days.
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Memorial Service:
7/31/2010 Elbert Christian Church, Elbert, Colorado, 11:00 am
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