Remembering Brownlee Guyer

Barbara Lawlor

02/15/2007 - A couple of weeks ago, Nederland Presbyterian Pastor Don Dexter visited Brownlee Guyer at his home in Boulder. Brownlee had left the hospital to spend his final days at home.

  It was a Friday. Brownlee could barely speak, and had trouble even raising his hand. Don knew the family was beginning the preparations to say goodbye to the charming, cantankerous character.

  Brownlee’s daughters gathered round, one of them having flown in from California. They spoke to the mortuary and tried to make arrangements for a memorial in Nederland and Boulder.

  But on Monday, Brownlee, being Brownlee, sat up in bed, his cheeks rosy again, his eyes twinkling with mischief, and told Pastor Don to tell Don Hunt in Nederland to stop pulling trout out of the stream.

  Gosh, if that isn’t just like Brownlee. He was going to go in his own good time.

  Brownlee died at his home in Boulder on the evening of Feb. 7, at the age of 94. He leaves behind a legacy of practical jokes, long-winded conversations, tall tales and a county full of people who will miss his good cheer and kind heart.

  There never has been nor ever will be anyone quite like Brownlee, a tall, skinny, ever-chuckling bundle of wit and intelligence.

  Born on Nov. 5, 1912 to Clarkson and Mary Larkin Guyer of Denver, Brownlee worked his way through the University of Colorado in Denver and Boulder, playing the tuba in a dance orchestra and delivering artwork by bike for $10 a week.

  He studied engineering, science and animal ecology and met Lois Perryman, who was to become the love of his life.

  After he graduated from college, he was hired as a draftsman by the Canon City Highway Department. On Halloween, 1937, Brownlee and Lois were married in Denver.

  The next day, Nov. 1^st, Brownlee went to work for the Colorado Division of Wildlife as a fish and game warden, a Wildlife Conservation Officer. It was the middle of the Depression, and Brownlee was sent to Boulder County, where he worked for the next 33 years.

  Part of his job was keeping an eye on hunters and fishermen, and the best way to do that was to join them in coffee and doughnuts at any local diner. Countless newspaper articles from community papers all over the County have chronicled the stories and adventures that were recounted by Brownlee and his cronies.

  In the early ‘50s the Guyers bought a cabin in Nederland and Brownlee soon embraced the mountain community, adding locals to his growing list of victims of his practical jokes.

  “I did everything,” said Brownlee, of his job description; “I trapped hundreds of beaver and gave directions to rescued people on the highway. During hunting season we would set up check stations on the Kansas border. During the war there weren’t many men to cover the area, and I always joked that it would take five men to replace me. Sure enough, when I retired, they hired five men to replace me.”

  Brownlee retired in 1970 and taught shop at Alexander Dawson for four years. He worked as a VISTA volunteer with senior citizens and worked as a substitute teacher for the Boulder Valley District.

  Brownlee loved a good joke and was known to carry his prankster paraphernalia with him in his forays into the coffee hour. He used to hang out at Harlow’s, which is now Kathmandu, and Tom Carline, a local realtor, says that when Brownlee was sitting with someone unaware of his ways, he would stir his coffee and pull out half a spoon, yelling, “My God, Lillian, what did you put in that coffee?”

  Fake rattlesnakes and road kill were often found in his car, just in case he had a victim to scare.

  When the Neder-Nederland was founded, Brownlee dusted off an old cannon and became the traditional race starter. It was always iffy and Brownlee always had a good laugh. He donated the cannon to the Nederland Historical Society.

  On their 25^th anniversary, Brownlee and Lois renewed their wedding vows with the minister who married them. On their 50^th wedding anniversary they were married again at the Nederland Community Presbyterian Church. Brownlee liked to brag that he is the only man to be married three times without getting a divorce.

  Lois preceded Brownlee in death last summer, just one week after a garden at the Presbyterian Church was named after the devoted couple.

  Brownlee was a member of the Blue Lodge #45 for over 60 years and was a past member of the Colorado Consistery #1 in Denver and the El Jebel Shrine. While in the Shrine he was in the Provost Guard and played in the El Jebel Band for ten years. He also played a bass horn in the Senior Citizens Band for ten years and was part of the Barker Brass Band that played in Nederland’s Fourth of July and Old-Timer’s Parade.

  Brownlee was active in the Boy Scouts and earned an Eagle Scout Badge in 1928. He led scout troops in Boulder and in Nederland.

  Best remembered for setting up a conservation program in the Boulder Valley Schools, Brownlee instructed elementary school students in the classroom and out in the field, teaching them conservation practices.

  Brownlee is survived by daughters Donna Gease of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and Betty Nelson of Corona, California.

  The family requests that donations be sent to: The Nederland Community Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 467, 80466, for the Guyer Park.

  A funeral service will be held at the Nederland Community Presbyterian Church, 210 Jefferson St., on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 11 a.m.

  Internment will be at the Green Mountain Cemetery.

  Pastor Don Dexter of the Nederland Community Presbyterian Church will conduct the services.

  Howe Mortuary of Lafayette is in charge of the services.