Sara Sandstrom-Kobi, Gilpin County. I huffed and puffed as I ran up their steep driveway knowing I was a little late for our agreed upon time. I know the house. I see it every day. I am going to see my neighbors, Jerry and Marlene Peterson. 

I try to catch my breath as I knock on the door. Marlene answers with a big smile and warm welcome, as she always does. She calls for Jerry. He comes into the kitchen and with a slight twinkle in his eye and a little smile and says, “Hi, Sara. You’re two minutes late.” 

How did I know he was going to point that out? 

We sat down at their table and they asked right away why I would want to interview them. I answered sincerely that I know they have had interesting lives and I want to hear more. This column is a way to learn about each other and the gifts we bring to this world and to the people around us. 

Jerry grew up in Litchfield, MN. His early years were defined by a lot of work. He worked at his family’s truck stop and on an uncle’s farm. Three days after graduating from high school he left Minnesota and headed west. First to Wyoming and then Colorado. It was 1966. 

He came to Nederland and lived in the Old Settler’s Lodge and worked job to job. He was employed at Eldora Mountain Resort digging ditches and putting in and maintaining water and air lines for snow making. These were the days of night skiing at Eldora. 

These were also the days of the war in Vietnam. Jerry joined the US Army in 1969. He was trained at Fort Campbell, KY, Fort Polk, LA, Fort Ord, CA, Fort Riley, KS, and then sent to Qui Nhon and Pleiku, Vietnam. He was part of the US Army’s 27th Transport Battalion. Jerry was assigned to drive a gun truck for security on supply convoys. They were sent into the fighting to bring supplies to the US troops and their allies. 

Soldiers in active war zones see the horrors of war. The things that are difficult to understand and more difficult to talk about. The Vietnam Veteran has a different story than other soldiers. They came home to a country that did not receive them with support, respect, honor or understanding. Many people were indifferent to what these men and women had gone through. Some returning soldiers were even met with hostility. Readjusting back to life in the US was made more difficult because of the political and social climate in the county. 

As I reflect on my conversation with Jerry about this time in his life, I start to think about the Vietnam Veterans who are still hurting today. It is a risk for any soldier to talk about their war experience. Will people be able to listen without judgement to their story? During this time of honoring US veterans, I encourage everyone to take the risk to ask a veteran about their military experience. Then, take time to truly listen. 

Jerry came back to Nederland after serving in Vietnam and has been in the area ever since. 

He became very involved with the Nederland Fire Department. It was completely volunteer at that time. There was little to no funding for the fire department. A mill levy was introduced and rejected. All the equipment was donated. They had a 1952 Coca Cola truck for a water tank and a 1936 LaFrance firetruck. 

Jerry said that the water mains would break in town as they pumped water because they were made of wood. And he laughs as he says, “The siren would go off and everyone would pile out of the P.I.”

There were some house fires and often there was nothing they could do. Many of the old cabins were insulated with newspaper and were consumed by fire so quickly. Jerry fondly remembers working with other volunteers like Flash Friedman and Paul Emerling. They did the best they could with the little they had. 

Jerry was also a quartermaster at Nederland’s VFW. This was a place where veterans from overseas conflicts could come together for camaraderie and support each other. The VFW slowly came to an end as the number of WWII involved became fewer and fewer. 

As a young man Jerry had a three year apprenticeship with Iron Workers Local 24. Iron Workers is a union of men and women who build the infrastructure of America. He then spent decades working with steel, rebar and glass, building buildings across the US. His career went all the way to becoming the General Superintendent for Harmon Inc. 

Jerry worked on a 65 foot building in Chicago. He built high rises in Denver, like the Marriot. He worked on The Presidio in Colorado Springs, the Meyer-Womble Observatory on top of Mt. Evans, the IBM building in Southbury, CT, and the Principle Building in Des Moines, IA, and that is only naming a few. 

This was before all the safety harnesses that are used today. At this point Marlene mentions that Jerry caught two guys that were falling while working on these enormous structures. Jerry shrugged his shoulders implying it was no big deal. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time. 

Both Marlene and Jerry speak with pride about Jerry’s time with the Iron Workers. As they should. Highly skilled workers building great American buildings. 

Marlene grew up in the suburbs of West Hartford, CT. After high school she attended nursing school in Norwich, CT. She graduated in 1967 and still holds her nursing license today. 

She spent her first years nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. There she worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and with pediatric patients in different Intensive Care Units. 

She married and moved to Florida. There she was a pediatric and emergency room nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, FL. Marlene thrives at being a nurse and spoke about how much she has loved her work. 

At the same time Jerry was buying a house in Gilpin County, Marlene was attending the first Rocky Mountain Healing Arts Festival near Ward, CO. It was 1975. This was a two week event and when it ended a number of the attendees decided to move to Colorado. Marlene was one of them. 

Marlene was now a single mom. She and her young daughter, Stacy, moved to Colorado in 1976. With the help of local realtor Jerry Ward she bought a cabin in Rollinsville, which later became the pharmacy. 

Stacy started school, attending Nederland schools Kindergarten through 12th grade, and Marlene was hired as a floater nurse at Boulder Memorial Hospital. She was then asked to be the Night Supervisor at Frasier Meadows Manor. Marlene says it was a great situation because they had a place for her daughter to sleep while she worked. During her 13 years there she went from Night Supervisor to Head Nurse to Director of Nursing. 

You might be wondering where their stories finally come together. Jerry and Marlene met each other in the later part of the 1980’s. They were married in 1992 in Las Vegas. When Marlene speaks of their 27 year marriage she says, “I loved him when I met him and still do.”

Marlene continued her nursing career and was part of the process to establish medical clinics in Nederland and Black Hawk. After years of driving to Boulder she was hired as a nurse at the Mountain Family Healthcare Center. She served our community with nursing care for almost two decades. 

When she retired, she was honored by her colleagues for her compassion and love for the mountain communities. 

I know first hand of this compassion and love. When my youngest child was born there were complications with the delivery and I was left very weak. Marlene immediately offered to come over and help. She came over week after week to care for my daughter and give me some much needed adult conversation. 

Marlene would come over and change my daughter, feed her and hold her for hours. It wasn’t just the time she gave, but also the love she gave my little girl. I will never forget the beautiful Yiddish song Marlene would sing as she rocked my daughter to sleep. It was so simple and so beautiful. I will always be grateful for the compassion and love she showed us. 

Marlene is not only an exceptional nurse she also loves the nursing profession. From the emergency room to the clinics she is passionate about it all. Then, when she starts to talk about the babies she has cared for her eyes light up and you know that babies hold a special place in her heart. 

On top of their normal lives, Marlene is a breast cancer survivor and Jerry had to have open heart surgery a few years ago. Neither situation kept them down for long. 

In retirement, they love to travel in their RV and go fishing. They enjoy hunting wild game, and Jerry makes a trek back to Minnesota every year to hunt there. They have traveled to Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean. When home they faithfully work out at the Gilpin Rec Center. Marlene is part of the Gilpin knitting group and started a Canasta group at the Gilpin Rec Center. 

Marlene beams with pride as she talks about her daughter’s accomplishments and her two beautiful grandchildren. 

Jerry and Marlene Peterson have made a powerful and positive impact on our community and on the places life has taken them. From putting together huge buildings made of steel and glass to caring for the youngest and oldest in society, Marlene and Jerry Peterson have led incredible lives. 

I hope their humility doesn’t prevent them from seeing the gift they are to the people they have touched. 

(Originally published in the November 7, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)