PHILLIPS COUNTY
Colorado
Holyoke Enterprise, Holyoke, CO, 17 Aug 2000
Robert Lewis Conklin was born January 6, 1927 in Holyoke, one of seven children born to George Cleveland and Rosa Belle Stephens Conklin. He died on August 10, 2000 at Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke, following several years of illness, at age 73.
Bob graduated from Holyoke High School in 1945 then joined the Army, serving from May 1945 to December 1946, part of the time in France as a Staff Sergeant. He worked at the Holyoke Co-Op Elevator through high school and after returning from the service, then became a lineman for Highline Electric Association on November 1, 1949, retiring, as line superintendent, on January 6, 1989.
Bob and Ardis Marie Kropp were married in Holyoke on June 8, 1947. They had six children:Vicki, Randy, Gail, Karla, Robin and Eric. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 8, 1997 with every living child, grandchild and great-grandchild in attendance.
He was a member and past commander of VFW Post #6482, a member of American Legion Post #90 and a retired volunteer fireman. He was also a member of Zion Lutheran Church.
Bob enjoyed hunting, fishing, traveling, making wine, gardening and working in his yard. He was a handyman, always puttering in his shop when his health allowed. In 1993 Bob and Ardis fulfilled a longtime dream when they spent the summer traveling to and through Alaska, bringing back many wonderful memories.
As a stern father, he could make his wishes and feelings known through some well chosen and very well used phrases! At the same time, he let each child and grandchild know they had a special place in his huge, loving heart. A man of much intelligence and many interests, he shared much of himself with his large family. Through summer vacations and fishing or hunting trips, his family members developed their love and respect for the wonders of nature. He knew how to make everyone laugh, often when they least expected it, sharing his wonderful and sometimes
wacky sense of humor. He was always there with a helping hand when there was a need.
He was a loving husband, father and grandfather and will be greatly missed by his family. One of the most important things his children remember is the unique childhood he created for them. With the large family there wasn't a lot of money for "store bought" toys, but the ones he built for them will never be forgotten: the softball diamond complete with backstop in the back field, the pulley ride that went half a block, a swing set made of HEA poles, homemade stilts, marble games and rubber band guns. There were the turtles that caught a ride to their house in the back of an HEA truck, the horney toads that arrived in his shirt pockets and strings of glass formed where power lines fell and melted sand.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents George and Rose Conklin; brothers James Wesley Conklin and George Frank Conklin; sister Margaret Lee Beattie; brothers-in-law Lawrence Franklin Henderson and Daryl Dean Kropp; son Randel Wesley Conklin; sons-in-law Larry Ray Rothenberger, Roger Frank Laychak, Robert Maurice Mann and Harold Scott Brown; daughter-in-law Anita Baker Conklin Potts; grandson Troy Allen Buck; and great-granddaughter Sophie Leigh Noisewater.
He is survived by his wife, Ardis of Holyoke; sisters Dora Tatum and husband Herman of Ovid, Ruth Hinnegan and husband Frank of Fort Collins; brother Harvey Conklin of Holyoke; sisters-in-law JoAnn Glittenberg, Tucson, AZ, Janice Temple and husband Ben of Lincoln, NE, and Rita Kropp of Holyoke; brothers-in-law Jim Kropp and wife DeAnn of Paonia, and Allen Kropp and wife Dottie of Sun City West, AZ; daughters Vicki Lynn Conklin of Holyoke, Gail Irene Harvey and husband Terry of Tahlequah, OK, Karla Sue Buck and husband Randy of Las Cruces, NM, and Robin Lou Miller and husband Mike of Holyoke; son Eric Richard Conklin of South Padre Island, TX; grandchildren Brenna Tidwell of Beaverton, OR, Kyle Conklin of Holyoke, Dacia Mann of Tulsa, OK, Colter Mann and wife Susan and Tony Mann all of Greeley, Darby Mann of Tahlequah, OK, Corey, Carrie and Katie Buck of Las Cruces, NM, Curtis Finch of Vail, Mandi Japp of Omaha, NE, Weston Finch of Holyoke; great-grandchildren Joshua, Brandon and Nick Tidwell of Beaverton, OR, Anastasia Conklin of Holyoke, D'Janay Mann and Baily Noisewater of Tahlequah, OK, Ashley and Amber Mann of Greeley; and many other relatives and friends.
Services were held at the Zion Lutheran Church at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, August 14, 2000. Burial was at the Holyoke Memorial Park.
Any non designated memorial contributions will be added to the Robert Conklin Memorial Fund for the new dialysis center in Sterling.
Robert Lewis Conklin
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Last updated December 2018
