Larry Volmer

H. Larry Volmer

Our husband, father and grandfather, Larry Volmer died September 18th. Larry was born April 12, 1943 in Englewood, CO where he lived for all of his youth. He graduated from Englewood High School, then joined the US Army, and later started his life’s work.

His career was spent as a Journeyman Lineman, Executive Foreman, and Coordinator with Public Service Company of Colorado and its antecedent, XcelEnergy, before retiring and taking on contract, supervisorial and consultant work with various organizations in the public utilities construction industry.  He was a well-respected leader in the industry, with extensive knowledge, and a great safety record. He spent long days working in the hot sun of the city, and longer winter nights on snowshoes troubleshooting the now-historic powerlines that travelled above 12,000 feet in the Colorado mountains.

Larry’s Army career was largely as a reservist, and mostly with the 244th Engineering battalion based in Denver. He reached the rank of Chief Warrant Office 4 before retiring in the early 90’s. The 244th was formed during, and served in World War II. They are well-decorated, and have served in conflicts through their history, largely as a construction force. In non-wartime, Larry and the 244th did civic construction projects as varied as the Dillon Reservoir Dam, Cottonwood pass road, and work in the 23-hour summer days of Alaska. Larry was a senior officer with the 244th.

He was a fount of knowledge about Colorado history, and an avid collector of historic and rare books. He had a seemingly-bottomless knowledge of mining, roads, railroads, and telephone and telegraph. Related to those hobbies, he was also a collector of rare insulators from historic telephone, telegraph and power lines, and was a collector of rare bottles. Larry would tell you everything you ever wanted to know about any of these subjects, and five or ten other things you may not have wanted to know as well. He was also a hunter for much of his life, and a fisherman. He loved spending long days on the shore, wading in the creek, or resting in a boat.

Larry was a huge man in both stature and heart. At six-foot-six, with a long white beard and his trademark overalls, he could be intimidating and was a respectable presence. Those of us who knew him were blessed with a contentious, opinionated, silly, troublesome, animal-loving, messy (and yet very-detailed), caring, loving and loyal man. He is survived by his loving wife Wendy, his two sons, one granddaughter, two great-grandchildren, two step-sons and many grandchildren, his four silly golden retrievers, and the rest of a large step-family. He will be greatly missed by us all. 

Graveside/Military service at Fort Logan National Cemetery on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 12:00 P.M. - (staging area "A")  4400 W. Kenyon Ave. Denver, CO 80236 303-761-0117 https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftlogan.asp

Directions: Please enter the cemetery from the north entrance at Sheridan Blvd and Denver Dr, turning right on Kansas St, and then gather in vehicle Staging Area A. Cemetery personnel will help organize us. Arrive before 11:45AM, as they are very efficient and strict with time. They will line up the visitors and take us to the service location as a group. This is a very structured, fast, but yet still poignant ceremony and there is not a lot of time to linger and socialize immediately after. Cemetery personnel will probably hurry us out if another family is scheduled to use the site.

Map: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lfldt8qgnm8logm/Fort%20logan%20map.pdf?dl=0

Memorial service will be held on Friday, October 11, 2019 from 4:00 to 7:00 P.M. at Governors Hall - 9050 W. Prentice Ave. Littleton, Colorado 80123.

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