The Seventies

    For Louie, retirement meant simply finding a slightly less difficult job. He quickly landed a job as the curator of the unique Carriage Museum, located just across the street from the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. Seen here with one of the thousands of people he gave tours to over the years, Louie prided himself in having shown many dignitaries through the collection of carriages, wagons, livery, and even the 1928 Cadillac owned by Spencer and Julie Penrose, who built the Broadmoor. He even gave a tour to Mrs. Charles Tutt, widow of Penrose’s partner, who was one of the owners of some of the finer carriages.

    Louie’s gallantry never faded. He’s shown here helping a lady from a carriage that was used in the inauguration of William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, in 1841.
   "I filled in for Grandpa one summer at the museum," Tom remembered. "Always interested in plants and landscaping, I took it upon myself to trim the large shrubs outside. When Grandpa returned to work one day and saw me doing it, he got out an electric hedge trimmer to make the job easier. Unfortunately, in his usual hasty fashion, he ended up cutting off the tip of his finger. We had to close up the museum and take him to the hospital to have the tip sewn back on. But that's the way Grandpa was, always working, always helping out."

    Louise, on the other hand, took retirement to heart.

    Once in a while Louie would find time for some relaxing moments at their home in Cheyenne Arms. His trimmed white mustache and gregarious personality made him an unforgettable character.
   "One of their traditions was to go out to eat," Tom recalled, "usually at the Village Inn Pancake House, Furr's Cafeteria, or other local restaurants. Grandpa, with his dapper attire and pencil-thin mustache, was an inveterate flirt, and the waitresses who waited on us always remembered him."

    While she wasn’t an avid or trained musician, Louise owned an organ and would sometimes sit down and play a hymn or two.

    When Marge began her career at Systems Development Corporation, Louie and Louise helped out by caring for Julie after school. And when Betty married Richard Bishop (unrelated) and began a family of her own, Louie and Louise welcomed a generation of great-grandchildren into their home as well. Pictured here is Betty’s fifth child, Neil, learning from Louie the secret to the strongest handshake in the world.

    Louise’s accident as a child led to her left knee becoming stiff as she grew older. For awhile she used crutches to get around, but eventually she put them away and relearned how to walk without them, continuing to perform her usual chores of housekeeping, babysitting, and making the best Christmas cookies and hot German potato salad in the world. [For three of her best loved recipes, click here.] Their later years brought deafness to her as well and weakened Louie’s voice, which led to many frustrating moments, but they never lost their devotion to one another. Here they hold hands at Julie’s 18th birthday party.

    This picture taken at a studio in Colorado Springs was their last formal portrait. Though they weren’t very formal people, Louie and Louise never lost their dignity or style.