Obituary of Robert Crowell

Robert Ace Crowell, 61, of Limon, Colorado went home to the Lord he loved on December 22, 2011. Ace was born on November 5, 1950 in Portland, Oregon to Robert Lee and Doris (Bailey) Crowell. Ace grew up and attended high school in Nebraska and Montana, graduating high school in Ekalka, Montana in 1969. He then attended Wyoming Technical School of Diesel Mechanics in Laramie, Wyoming in 1979. Ace met Gaileen (Ramsey) and became the father to Rae Marie and Jerod in 1988. The beginning of the children’s love for Ace was born on a walk on a riverbank when Ace lifted Jerod, who was wheelchair-bound, onto his shoulders and gave the young boy a taste of freedom and a reason to love the man who became his father that day. Ace and Gaileen celebrated their union on November 22, 1992 in Casper, Wyoming. While in Casper, Ace worked as a Diesel Mechanic for 13 years where he honed his skills working on giant Diesel Caterpillar engines, further fueling his favorite cat house jokes. Ace and Gaileen moved to Riverton, Wyoming in 1993 where they had a small farm. They raised peacocks, Himalayan and Persian cats and weeds. Ace loved the farm and loved to tell people how he lived at the cat house. Ace also operated his own lawn care business, Ace’s Grass Works, where his motto was “We’ll give your lawn a kick in the grass.” This business wasn’t work to Ace because it allowed him to be outdoors, where he thrived. In January of 2000 the couple moved to Limon, Colorado where Gaileen accepted a job as a drug and alcohol counselor at the Limon Correctional Facility. Ace was a friendly fixture at Hoffman Drug beginning in 2000, doing small engine repair and anything else that needed to be repaired. Never one to take the road most traveled, Ace’s sense of adventure might take the couple up shaky, shale roads, over snowmobiling trails, or just down a gravel road he wasn’t familiar with just to see where it would take them. Ace loved to putz in his yard, visit with neighbors about their landscaped yards and discover unique fruit trees to add to his collection. He loved to work in his rose beds given the absence of snakes (how big or little they were). Hardly a weekend ever passed when they didn’t have supper and play cards with longtime friends, Marty and Gloria Newcomb. Ace enjoyed the many hands he was dealt, especially on the occasion he came out on top. Ace was a charter member of the Lions Club in Limon. He was also a member of the Zion Lutheran Church. The word of the Lord spoke to Ace and he loved to serve his church as a reader and in song, where he especially enjoyed the old hymns. Ace was preceded in death by his parents; two children, Rae Marie and Jerod; father-in-law, Ralph Ramsey; brother-in-law, Curt Harden; and great niece, Nicole Garnhart. He is survived by his wife, Gaileen whom he loved very much; his mother-in-law, Joy Ramsey; sister in-law, Carol Harden; one niece, Ashley (Ed) Buchanan and nephew, Ryan Harden. Also surviving are a great niece, Hallie and great nephews, Patrick and Dante and a host of friends.