Obituary of Richard Winterberg

View Video Tribute Donald Richard Winterberg, 69 of Limon, CO passed away November 01, 2006 in Denver, CO after a brief illness. Richard Winterberg was born on October 27, 1937 in Denver, CO. Richard was the third son born to Paul and Lily Winterberg of Deertrail, CO. His brothers were Alan Carl, Bernard Paul and Ronald William Winterberg. The Winterberg family moved to the Limon area when Richard was a young boy and settled on a farm southwest of River Bend. When Richard was approximately fourteen he worked on the Howard Pribeno Ranch just west of Limon. In 1955 he worked in the Calhan area on a dairy farm milking over 100 head of cows and also worked for Hamacher Well Drilling for a short time. He was a member of the United Evangelical Brethren Church in Ellicott, CO in 1955. Richard married JoElla Harding of Calhan on July 21, 1957 in Colorado Springs, CO. The couple was blessed with five children; Julie Ann, Cheryl Lynn, Cindy Jo, Douglas Richard, and Amy Sue. Richard did part time work for the elevator in Limon and at the Frontier Service Station until 1958. He worked as a guard at the Titan Missile Base in Deer Trail, after which he leased Lincoln Texaco from Ben Hoskins. This station was operated until 1965. Winterberg Oil Company was started at this time with the building of a Skelly Station on East Hiway 24, right at the city limits of Limon. Richard became the Skelly jobber for this area. In 1971 the Skelly Station property was purchased by the State of Colorado as Interstate 70 was to be built through this area. Richard and JoElla purchased a ranch four miles East of Limon, on Hiway 40/287 for their home place where they have run cattle for over thirty years. At this time Richard was involved in doing construction work. He did construction on pipelines and began plowing telephone cable for Mountain Bell Telephone Co., until about 1987. Many acres of farm ground were purchased as Richard always said, “there is no better investment than land.â€? Wheat has been planted and harvested at Richard’s direction for nearly thirty years. In 1988 Richard and JoElla started a full time towing and road service business which they owned and operated until the year 2004 when this business was purchased by their daughter Amy and husband Theron Perry. Raising his family and this business were what Richard considered his finest accomplishments. One of the things Richard was most proud of was obtaining his private pilots license and belonging to the Colorado Flying Farmers. He also collected guns, enjoyed water skiing, and could snow ski. Richard was preceded in death by his parents, and one brother; Alan Winterberg. Richard is survived by his wife of 49 years, JoElla Winterberg of Limon, CO, four daughters; Julie (John) Sullivan of Riverside, CA, Cheryl Bailey of Limon, CO, Cindy (Robert) Rogers of Evergreen, CO and Amy (Theron) Perry of Limon, CO, one son; Doug (Lindsay) Winterberg of Limon, CO and thirteen grandchildren. He is also survived by two brothers; Bernard Winterberg of Limon, CO and Ronald (Joyce) Winterberg of Phoenix, AZ. Richard’s family will greatly miss him along with nieces, nephews and a host of friends. A funeral service will be held Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 11:00 A.M. at the Life in Christ Church in Limon, CO with burial at Pershing Memorial Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Limon Ambulance Fund P.O. Box 374, Limon, CO 80828.