DON DENNIS AND ANN (MILLER) DENNIS FAMILY WEBSITE 

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       Articles    1     2     3    4

        Calendars 56-61  

       La Veta, CO

Stories

50's  Song Hits

       Lefse

Sports

click for: Sturgis    (100 + pages of Sturgis material)

 click for:  Fowler   (100 + pages of Fowler material)

 Pueblo Junior College 

Don's College and Jobs

Ancestors   "It All Began"        "....And an Electric Chair"

Army & Yearbooks

USS Dennis  

        USS Fogg        

James Turner

USS St. Lo

Delbert Miller

 POW  WWII 

 

Copyright law precludes use of others work without explicit permission.  Web pages, by law,  are protected as soon as created.   www.dondennisfamily.com reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of any image, clip or text from this website. If you violate our intellectual property you may be liable to pay compensation,  and where appropriate, the costs of collection and/or statutory damages.  Material is watermarked with transparent overlay or marked, and our presentation of this material is copyrighted.  No part of this website or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without  prior written permission. (THIS MEANS:  DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING ANY OF OUR SCANS!)

 


Pueblo, Grand Junction, Pueblo

 

Don was working at the Chieftain Newspaper in Pueblo, Colorado, (making $99 a week, then bumped to $135 a week) when he was offered a job with the Grand Junction  Daily  Sentinel as Sports Editor in late August of 1961 ($140 a week).

While it was only a few more dollars a week, the Daily Sentinel offered an attractive bonus plan;  but most of all it was a gigantic career step becoming Sports Editor on a good sized paper with just 22 months of experience as a sports writer.  "Editor and Publisher" did a story pointing out that at 21 years old, he was the youngest Sports Editor in the country for a paper with circulation of 25,000 or more.   

 

Moving from Pueblo to Grand Junction:   They loaded their belongings and headed across the Rockies.  In Canon City the car's generator went out, late in the evening.   Don was fortunate to find a little shop at the edge of town and a mechanic who jumped right in and replaced it.   They had $100 to finance the whole move, and that took $36 of it.  

They drove all night and finally stayed in Eagle to get a few hours of sleep.  The next day in Grand Junction, Don had to report right to work.   They hadn't had time to house hunt yet,  so Ann waited in the car while Don covered a golf tournament and filed the story.     They got a motel that night, and the next day found an old farm house on 28 1/2 Rd. at the edge of town, with a yard full of CATS!    That cinched it... Don rented it!  $90 a month. 

Don  LOVES cats and cared for them daily.

The old farm house was at  530  28 1/2 Road  (Sept-Nov 1961), and Scotty was born there.    

Ann's mom, Gen, came to help with the new baby and when it was time to go home they filled her suitcases with fresh apples from the adjacent orchard.    The bus back to South Dakota was delayed in a snow storm and Gen ended up having to stay at the Brown Palace Hotel overnight, in Denver.   She had to drag those HEAVY suitcases full of apples across a busy street to the hotel.

Wanting to be closer to work,  they next rented a basement apartment from the Joe and Ann Mendicelli family at  205 White Avenue, and lived there the remainder of their time in GrJct (Nov 1961-Aug 1964).    Moving was easy....they didn't own much!   Dan Creedon worked for Don in the Sports Dept at the Newspaper.    The two men loaded their one piece of furniture, a large buffet, into the trunk of the car as far as it would go, and Dan walked behind the car all the way to the new house, holding the loose end... no small trek!   Don drove slow but bumps must have had quite a ripple effect!  

The new apartment was furnished with used packing boxes, upside down with cloth over them,  until they slowly acquired the necessities from garage sales.   Ann discovered the fun of buying,  fixing up and re-selling used furniture!   Don always said he was glad he wasn't a drinking man, as he never knew where the furniture would be when he came home.   Once, he went on a road trip, came home and had to step aside so a man could get out of the house with his end tables.    "Psssst  Buddy", the guy said.  "Some great buys in there".         



Ann, Don, Scott and
Don's father, Leo Dennis.

      
And then there were two... Scott and Steve

 

           

Sam Suplizio 
 (1932 to 12-29-06)


and Don Dennis

 

One summer day a beautiful girl walked into the Daily Sentinel newspaper office in short shorts and all heads turned.  Don's phone rang, he watched the girl walking across the newsroom as he picked it up and said "Shorts.....  er, SPORTS".      They reminded him of that often over the years!

 

Grand Junction was fun, and Don found a lot of interesting jobs in addition to the newspaper work.  He was on the board of the National Junior College Baseball Tournament Committee.  In May 1962 he joined Sigma Delta Chi, and remains a member to this day.  Sigma Delta Chi over the years evolved into The Society of Professional Journalists.

He did radio play-by-play for the college teams, worked with the university sports programs,  got very involved in the Grand Junction Eagles semi-pro baseball team (run by Sam Suplizio),  and made his first trips to Alaska with them.   The picture to the right is the Grand Junction Eagles Team in Fairbanks, 1965, their second trip up.

Don began working as a bird-dog baseball scout for pro teams.   Claude "Dutch" Dietrich was his mentor.    He was with the Houston Colt-45's, and then the Atlanta Braves.  He was a dapper little old man who wore spats and always dressed in a suit.    When he would come to town there was usually a box of candy for Ann.  

  

Ann mostly took care of the two little boys.   They were active in church and both just enjoyed life, caring for each other and their little family. 

Grand Junction was all happy memories - the town, the job, but mostly, the people!   Every morning a large group would meet at the La Court Hotel for coffee and to solve the problems of the world, hosted by hotel owner, Bud Buthorn!  Don had more close friends in Grand Junction than in any other place they lived!   Sam Suplizio remained a lifelong friend, even playing with the Alaska Goldpanners baseball team in two National Tournaments.  If there had been a 4-year college there, they would not have left, but Don wanted to complete his degree.

 

Click to enlarge this picture and when it comes up,
click again to make it even larger to see faces.

 
Under the letter "B"  is Bud Buthorn and his son.  
The crowd is Daily Sentinel employees in August 1963,
Daily Sentinel Night at Lincoln Park Stadium which
later was named for Sam Suplizio.


Left:  Preston Walker, owner and publisher of the Daily Sentinel;
Red Boucher bringing the Alaska Goldpanners to Grand Junction
the first time;  Joe Lacy, Grand Junction City Manager in 1963.


1963 - Gay Johnson, owner of restaurants and service stations in Colorado;
Bill Foster, later a Judge, who supported the Grand Junction Eagle Baseball Team.


2008

Dianna Jensen and Lynn Lickers, from the Grand Junction Sentinel, just sent some incredible photos of the newspaper building and downtown Grand Junction as it was when Don and Ann lived there.   Click on the photos to enlarge them greatly.  A second click after they come up enlarges the downtown picture even more.


The Daily Sentinel as it was in 61-64.
The Newspaper was owned by Preston Walker.


An amazing huge picture of downtown Grand Junction
in the early 1960's when they were beautifying the
downtown area.   Don and Ann remember that well.
  

Thank you so much Dianna and Lynn!
 

Sam Suplizio Field, Grand Junction, Colorado
Enlarge with a click.... very recognizable people in crowd, 1963

 


Cliff Parker and Don Dennis covering Sports for the Daily Sentinel.
Behind in stands: Dick Reimer, to the right:  Mike Bennett

click to see a crowd scene from the 1962 High School Wrestling Tournament in Gr Jct.

 

FROM GRAND JUNCTION BACK TO PUEBLO

 

In 1964 Don decided they should return to Pueblo, so he could complete his college courses at Pueblo College, now a 4-year college,  Southern Colorado State College.  The Pueblo Chieftain hired him again.   Don and Denver Sports Writer, Irv Moss, were partners in Colorado Sports Publications, which produced game programs and sports newsletters statewide, working out of a hotel in Denver.  He served on the Pueblo Runyon Field Baseball Committee, on the Colorado All-State Games Committee and was active in the Association of the United States Army.

 

1965 SCSC Annual Pic

They bought their first house when they returned to Pueblo. 

Don attended college this time from September 1964 until December 1967, and took his final course at Univ of Alaska, to finish.

 

 

 


Fountain River

 

 

Don went to Alaska with the Grand Junction Eagles baseball team and while he was gone Pueblo's Fountain River flooded after 14 inches of rain.  Ann, 6 1/2 months pregnant, and the two boys, were part of the mandatory evacuation.    They spent the night at the Risley Junior High gym.   So many of the people sleeping there were sick and coughing so Ann carried both boys all night to keep them from catching the germs.   A very worried Don returned to find all was well; their house had not been affected and the family was fine.    

 The water had reached the back yards of the houses across the street from their home.    A good friend, James Osnowitz, drowned covering the flood for the Chieftain newspaper. 

21 people drowned or their deaths were attributed to the storms or activities related to the 1965 floods. Huge cottonwoods were uprooted by the torrential flow down the creek and bobbed like corks through Pueblo, crashing into the East Eighth and East Fourth Street bridges. Soon the Fountain jumped its banks and flooded a significant portion of the town.

 Teena was born two weeks later, very premature and weighing 5 lbs 1oz, losing to a bit over 4 lbs right away.  She was so tiny! Ann's mother Gen, and Gen's Aunt Marie, came to help with the kids.


Newborn Teena, Gen,
Aunt Marie, Scott, Steve

 

 


.....and then there were three! 

 


Joe, Joseph, Janice,
baby Christy, and
Ann Mendicelli
with Scotty Dennis.
Joe Mendicelli passed
away in May 2010.
\


Fran Loveridge with
Steve and Scott.
Grand Junction

 

 


Grandpa M &
Scott. 

 


 Grandpa M. always had
candy in his pocket! 

 



 Visiting Fowler
 

 


     

Fishing at Don's parents place
on Lake DeWeese.    Don's Aunt Barb in the pic.



 



Chuck Hogue & Don in Grand Junction. 
Think of them in previous years and now look! 
1962. Ah, marriage changes things!!!
 

And, Guy Kennedy and
Don....also 1962.  Life
has taken a definite change!

 


Ken and Nan Tyndall
neighbors in Pueblo.

 

 


Ron and Diane Borton and
family,  neighbors.


Janice Rash and Sons, neighbors

 
   
Diane Borton & Kids    
 

 

   
John Boyson Family   
 

 

 



 


Kathy Haggart

Tyndalls
 

click to enlarge thumbnails


1967-Don and Ann Dennis and kids

Living in Pueblo, a neighbor, Janice Rash, invited Ann to ride along as she picked up a piece of ceramic pottery she'd had fired at a shop.  Instant fascination!   Ann started with little pieces and eventually learned pouring, throwing, sculpting, mold making, tile work... just totally loving ANY kind of clay or plaster work.    It became a lifelong hobby/vocation that continues to this day.

 Pottery 


Bill McClatchey was Sports Editor both times when Don
worked as Sports Writer for the Pueblo Chieftain.

  To Alaska in 1967:      Fairbanks Page 1

 

              DON DENNIS AND ANN (MILLER) DENNIS FAMILY WEBSITE 

  NEW on the site  

  1.  HOME  (The early years)     2. Pueblo, Gr Junction

  3.  Fairbanks  1   

  4.  Fairbanks  2  

  5.  Arizona     Dupree Ranch

Denver

 Ann's Pottery/Art 

       Articles    1     2     3    4

        Calendars 56-61  

       La Veta, CO

Stories

50's  Song Hits

       Lefse

Sports

click for: Sturgis    (100 + pages of Sturgis material)

 click for:  Fowler   (100 + pages of Fowler material)

 Pueblo Junior College 

Don's College and Jobs

Ancestors   "It All Began"        "....And an Electric Chair"

Army & Yearbooks

USS Dennis  

        USS Fogg        

James Turner

USS St. Lo

Delbert Miller

 POW  WWII 

 

Copyright law precludes use of others work without explicit permission.  Web pages, by law,  are protected as soon as created.   www.dondennisfamily.com reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of any image, clip or text from this website. If you violate our intellectual property you may be liable to pay compensation,  and where appropriate, the costs of collection and/or statutory damages.  Material is watermarked with transparent overlay or marked, and our presentation of this material is copyrighted.  No part of this website or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without  prior written permission. (THIS MEANS:  DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING ANY OF OUR SCANS!)

 

 

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