The Giggey family, Boulder County. George Giggey has long been a friendly fixture on Magnolia Road, where he would be seen on a daily basis, driving his favorite Chevy or Jeep pickup, on his way to help someone. He was a kind, loving, generous man whose absence will leave a large space in the mountain air.
George Leon Giggey, “Dad” was born July 31, 1931 to Sophia Mae Giggey, nee Lindemeyer, and Charles Aden Giggey. Dad died in his home as he wanted, near Pinecliffe, Colorado, on August 4, 2015.
He took with him a rich family history of original homesteaders in the area. Dad’s family settled in Colorado in the early 1800s, and are thought to have come from Ireland. Dad’s father’s family, Giggeys, DeBakers, and Chambers, lived on Magnolia Road, in Caribou, near Nederland, and on Valmont Road and Fort Chambers in Boulder.
His mother came to America by ship from Germany as a young orphan and was raised by a family named Fosters who also lived in Boulder.
When his mother and father married, they left Magnolia to start a life together in Dove Creek, Colorado. Dad was born in Dove Creek. He told stories of his mother telling his father to move them into the barn because it was a better shelter than the stucco house they were living in. So Dad was born in a barn and was proud of that! He liked that he could say that it was okay when he left the door open.
The floor was the earth, and rattlesnakes would come in under the walls into the barn, which led to the stories of him using the rattles for baby rattles to cut his teeth on when he was a baby. In his seven years at Dove Creek, he grew up with the Navajo Indian children and their families, becoming good friends.
The family stayed in Dove Creek until Dad was seven years old. The Giggeys then moved back home to Magnolia because it was hard to make a living in the harsh area where they lived.
His dad packed their belongings onto the wagon and went home to Magnolia, where his dad, George Leon Giggey, had raised his family, which had been his dad’s, George Wiggen Giggey.
Dad and his mother rode the Silverton Train as far as it went and went the rest of the way home by bus. Dad met his best friend for life at this time: “Slug” Roy Slugenhoupt, with whom he would have many good times and adventures.
Dad lived in the homestead known as Giggey Ranch in the day, the large meadow with the pond in the middle. It has been sold many times and is now known as Reynold’s Ranch, and is now Boulder County Open Space.
Dad’s mom and dad bought and moved to the main house of the Winiger homestead which is now known as Lazy Z. The house is where Sheila Ranegar now has her horse-riding business, the Rising Sun Ranch.
They bought all the Winiger homestead property that bordered the Giggey Ranch.
Dad remembered traveling Magnolia Road by horse and wagon when they shopped in Boulder. It was an overnight or a few days’ trip. On the way they would rest the horses and have a picnic. He’d always plant an apple core if he had one. He said some of those apple trees in Boulder Canyon and on Magnolia Road grew there because of their trips to town. We called him George Apple Seed.
When Dad was very young, the ranch and farming chores became difficult after his brother left home and his mother got sick with cancer. His father walked to the mines and was gone before sunup to past dark. Dad’s dad worked the mines just over the hill in Boulder Canyon, on Magnolia Road, towards Hwy. 72 near Pinecliffe, wherever he could. He also worked the railroad, which kept him away from home for long periods.
Dad went to school in the schoolhouse on Magnolia Road when he was seven years old, either walking or riding a horse. He went there until he started at the Nederland school, which is now known as the Nederland Community Center. Dad quit school in the 10th grade, to take care of his mother and work the ranch while his dad was gone.
He drove his mother to Denver for cancer treatments in their old Dodge (No one needed a drivers license those days so it didn’t matter that he was 14 years old.) There was no heater for warmth and in the winter they took blankets to keep warm. You could always tell in Dad’s voice when he spoke of his family, how he loved them, respected and honored them. That truly was my Dad’s heart when he cared for someone.
His mother passed away when he was 15 years old.
Dad went to work for the railroad when he was 15, younger than the law permitted a railroad worker to be, but somehow life experiences had made him older. That’s probably why he wasn’t questioned. Also because they knew his worth.
He helped his Uncle Del and the Skates family, who were all dear neighbors and friends. His Uncle Del’s ranch, known as Kellogg’s on Magnolia Road at this time, helped to supply the Skates Sawmill, on their ranch, with logs that he skidded through the forest with a team of horses. He helped with the cattle, farming, the sawmill, putting up the hay, and everything that goes along with being a mountain rancher back then.
When Dad married Mom, Blanche Earlene Beloit, on November 18, 1951, they lived at the Winiger place off Magnolia Road with his dad, whose health wasn’t good. Dad wanted to join the Navy with his life-long friend Harry Hedghes, but due to his scoliosis the Navy wouldn’t take him, so he joined the Army. He was a Private 1st class in the Army and stationed in Germany.
Mom took care of Granddad and the ranch while Dad was gone. While Dad was away, the Puget Sound Construction Company, forced a road through granddad’s property to get gravel from Pactolus Lake to build Gross Dam. It turned out they couldn’t use the inferior gravel anyway, but they had already caused my granddad much grief which, in turn, caused his health to deteriorate further.
When Dad came home from the Army, Mom, Dad and Granddad lived in the Winiger cabin off Hwy. 72 near Pinecliffe. Mom and Dad had had two children when Dad’s dad died in 1954.
Mom and Dad continued to live in the Winiger cabin and had three more children. They raised five children of their own, loved and cared for them. They also cared for any child who touched their world.
Dad worked at CU in Boulder as a pipefitter in the tunnels under the university, where he was in constant contact with asbestos, which was one reason for his health problems throughout his life. He worked there until 1969 when a new boss came in and laid off many men as times were changing.
Great friends, Slug and his wife Betty Slugenhoupt, Stanley Hanson and his wife, Dick and Edith Skates, among so many others, helped our family through until Dad got another job. Dad did many things to take care of his family all through his life. His skills were admirable. He belonged to the pipe fitters union until he died. He was a High Country Fire Department Chief, and donated the land for Station 1 on Hwy.72
Dad and Mom bought back the property and a house that was built there by Jerry Juarez, after it was sold in earlier years. They built an addition and improved on the house until the day they died and this home is where Dad wanted to die, and did.
In 1962 we moved to this house, which was a memory we’ll never forget. One memory was a tortilla recipe written on the wall in the kitchen. I think it was a good recipe. Our new house was about 200 yards down the road. The house had a lot of character and was always a work in progress.
Dad went to work for Boulder County Road Department in 1969. Ken Ross and Joe Smith, Senior, are just a couple names that are remembered from this time in his life—men whom he worked with and respected. After Dad retired, he continued excavating, working with wood, fixing all that needed to be fixed. He cared for family, friends and neighbors.
He raised three more children that were his grandchildren. He wasn’t the kind of man to judge someone or try to hurt them. Two of his favorite sayings were, “It doesn’t matter who gets the credit, as long as the job gets done,” and “All’s well that ends well.”
George loved to play pinochle and loved to play with his four-wheel-drive vehicles. He would often drive into Nederland in his old Plymouth with the musical horns. Parents would drag their children off the street as he drove by.
He was a great fly fisherman and all of his children joined him in the sport. He was everything a mountain rancher should be.
I knew my dad as a kind and quiet man until something needed to be set straight and he seemed to do that with a few witty words, usually funny, but in whatever manner, they were with meaning and worth. He was a man of his word, a hard worker, caring and giving, and he loved life with interest, for all of it.
His wife Blanche Earlene Giggey, his brother Cecil Marvin Giggey, sister Dorothy Mae Giggey, son Hayes Bernett, and one grandchild preceded him in death.
He is survived by four children: Sophia Mae Hayes Bernett, Christine Elaine, Shirley Joline, and George Leon Giggey II; nine grandchildren, and fourteen great-grand children.
Donations may be made to Wounded Warriors.
