Thursday

My father Edward Chavez is being inducted posthumously into the Heritage Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Denver's East High School, this coming fall. It's funny to think that I ended up in Denver many years after his death. Though I had visited Denver in childhood, and though I have always loved Colorado, I never imagined I'd wind up living here.
My father was a terrific skier and served on the ski patrol for many years. He also trained with Colorado's 10th Mountain Division, a light infantry division which received special training (including skiing, snowshoeing and mountaineering) in order to fight in the mountains of Italy. The 10th Mountain Division was one of the latest divisions to enter combat during WWII and in fact my father was never deployed.
With me at our first house in Woodstock, where he was a prominent member of the Woodstock Artist's association.

11 comments:

Jg. for FatScribe said...

what a wonderful honor for your father and your family. your daughter is inheriting a terrific legacy. thanks for sharing these lovely sentiments and memories.

Anonymous said...

your memories.... love love love!

agneta

Evelyne said...

Nous héritons de certaines qualités de nos parents...et de quelques défauts aussi il faut bien l'avouer.
Ton père t'a offert la volonté, le courage mais aussi l'esprit artistique...comme ta maman il me semble.

Jeanne-ming Brantingham said...

wonderful. So handsome!

Liza B. Gonzalez said...

Congratulations...Enjoy the day!

liza said...

Oh, this is fantastic!

Angie Muresan said...

What a handsome man! And what a wonderful tribute to him. I love that last photo of you and him.

johnny said...

he is ONE stylish dude!

Palmer and Co said...

Again... LOVE this history! Great shot of you two.

Yoli said...

A great honor and you must be so proud. That first picture is really something. He looks like a movie star, he must have taken your Mom's breath away.

Maia said...

Thanks all. It is a wonderful honour, and I look forward to attending the celebration in September. Well-deserved. My dad was a true renaissance man.

Evelyne, you're right, we do hope to pass on the best.I received many gifts from my parents which I hope to pass on to our daughter.

Yoli, yes I imagine she was very breathless when she fell in love with him. That said, he was much, much older by the time she first met him. That first photo was taken when he initially won the position as a WPA artist. He was maybe 22. By the time my mother met him , he was in his 40s and had already lived much of his career.