Obituary of Bill Farnsworth

“My journey here is done, I’m going home.” William E. “Bill” Farnsworth was born on April 19,1941, to Oscar “Buzz” and Gladys Farnsworth, in Burlington, Colorado. He attended Burlington schools until he graduated from Burlington High School in 1959. He played football for BHS throughout high school. His team was the State Runner-up for the 1958 season. Bill was awarded a football scholarship to CSU in 1959. In 1960, he transferred to Trinidad State Junior College in Trinidad, Colorado, to play football under the mentorship of the incomparable Kay Dalton. It was in Trinidad that he met his future wife, the former Rose Janice “Jann” Latuda. Bill then followed Kay Dalton to Western State College for the 1961 and 1962 seasons. While at WSC, he was named a Division II All American. Bill graduated from Western State in 1962 with a B.A. degree. He stayed at Western State for the 1963 season serving as a graduate assistant for the football program. He later obtained his M.A. degree from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. In the Fall of 1964, Bill began his teaching career at Limon High School in Limon, Colorado, and taught Social Studies. He also coached football, basketball, and track. Bill’s love of sports and athletics from an early age forged his career track in life. After spending two years in Limon, Bill and Jann moved to Burlington where he continued teaching and coaching for many years at Burlington High School. He also invested in farmland which satisfied that inner desire that was instilled in him since he was a little boy. (You can take the boy off the farm, but you can’t take the love of farming and the land out of the boy.) During his long tenure at Burlington High School, Bill coached football for 18 years, basketball for two years, track for 14 years, and wrestling for 10 years. He was an assistant coach for the BHS 1973 and 1974 State Wrestling Championship teams and an assistant coach for the 1976 State Championship football team. He was chosen to serve as Athletic Director at BHS for 17 years. He served as league president three times; served on the CHSAA Football Committee, the State Volleyball Seeding Committee, and the CADA Executive Committee for six years. Bill worked on the State Wrestling Tournament and State Track Meet many times over several years. He also hosted several regional basketball tournaments for different leagues throughout his career. Bill retired in 1996. He spent a lot of time on the farm staying true to his upbringing and he and Jann were able to travel to many varied locales in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. He was persuaded to return as Athletic Director for the years of 2008 and 2009 after which he fully retired. Bill had many hobbies and interests throughout his life. One of them that was near to his heart was spending time with his grandchildren Alex, Preston, Parker, and Van. When he was attending Western State, one of his friends invited him to go skiing at Crested Butte one weekend. After that first day, he was hooked on skiing for life, spending many a weekend at Crested Butte with his friends. Bill skied whenever he could well into his 70s. Another of his passions was riding motorcycles. He finally purchased “the holy grail” --a Harley in the 2000s. You could find Bill, often with Jann on the back, taking a leisurely ride in the country whenever they could sneak away. They also enjoyed long road trips with like-minded buddies, road tripping to Sturgis many times. The group always returned to regale everyone with hilarious and entertaining stories of the many spectacles they encountered. Another favorite pastime was of Bill, Jann, Tawni, and Staci spending many a weekend day at Bonny Dam with friends and their families picnicking, water skiing, enjoying the outdoors, and savoring the company of friends. Bill’s favorite form of exercise was running. This activity kept him fit throughout his entire life. In the late 1980s he ran in the Denver Mile High Marathon. Everyone was so proud of his accomplishment. One of Bill’s lifetime dreams was to attend a Super Bowl, especially one in which the Broncos were a contender. His dream was realized when he and Jann attended Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco. The game was played on February 7, 2016, with the Broncos beating the Carolina Panthers 24-10. It was a dream come true. During the last 10 or so years of his life, Bill, Jann, Tawni, Alex, Preston, Chris, Staci, Parker, and Van took many dream family vacations to destinations including Jekyll Island, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Mexico. These were memorable in more ways than one. Spending time together was meaningful to all of them. Three other things that Bill loved were fried chicken-his absolute favorite meal, peanut M&M’s and solving Sudoku puzzles. He was an absolute genius at solving the puzzles! Bill is survived by his wife of 58 years, Jann; his daughters Tawni Renee Gribben and her two sons, Alex and his wife Jordan of Pesota, IA, and Preston of Washington, D.C.; Staci Laine Bouc, her husband Chris, their daughter Parker, and son Van, all of Denver, CO. He is also survived by his sisters Bonnie Hendricks and Nancy Carlson, both of Burlington. In addition, sisters-in law, Cathy Mattorano of Trinidad, CO and Carla Latuda of Denver, CO and brother-in law, George Latuda and his wife Judy of Golden, CO, several nieces, nephews, cousins, and many other family members and friends survive him. He was preceded in death by his parents, Buzz and Gladys, his son-in-law, Tim Gribben, his in-laws, Bob and Millie Latuda, and his brother-in-law, Spike. Bill will leave a hole in the heart of all who loved him and will be sorely missed. Memorials may be made to the Bill Farnsworth Memorial Fund and may be left at or sent to the Bank of Burlington, PO Box 427 or 410 14th Street, Burlington, Colorado 80807.