James Francis Dwyer

Due to the sad circumstances in the world right now we are unable to honor our dad with a formal service, but we hope to have a mass and a celebration of his life as soon as things return to normal. In the meantime we have created this video to remember him by.

Please click here to see a video tribute to his life

James Frances Dwyer, ""JD"", was born during the Great Depression and died during the Coronavirus Pandemic. In between these two tragic times in history he lived an incredible life.

He was born on November 18, 1931 at Mercy Hospital in Denver, Colorado. He was Bill and Mildred Dwyer's fourth child, but his older sister died before he was born. Growing up in Park Hill, he lived in a small duplex on Clermont St. with his parents and his siblings Tom, Bill, Mike, John, Ann, Pat, and Therese.

Dad spent his childhood playing in Denver City Park. Ice skating in the winter and fishing in the summer. One of his earliest memories was when the ponies came to the park and he got dressed up in cowboy gear to ride one, but when it was his turn to ride he didn't have any money to pay for it. Throughout his life, Dad wanted to be a cowboy.

His mother always said that from the very beginning, he had a mind of his own. She once said about him that he was always pretty sweet, but certainly never angelic. Recently, Pops said that his mother was hoping until the day she died that he would just shape up.

Dad attended Blessed Sacrament for grade school. Later, he went to Regis high school for his freshman and sophomore years, but at Regis' request, he finished high school at St. Joes. Later, he returned to Regis College, and some time in his 30s, he finished his degree in Business. Pops was always saying that he was not much of a student and that compared to his wife and children, he was not very smart. But to those of us who knew him, he was a very wise man.

During high school, Dad lost his father whom he adored. In order to help his mother support the family he worked as a janitor at Mercy hospital. For the rest of his life, he considered himself to be an expert at sweeping and scrubbing floors. It disappointed him greatly that none of his children ever shared this talent.

When Dad was 19, he met our mother, Joanne Guerin, at the Moon Drive Inn on Colfax. She was on a date with another guy, but Dad didn't care; he asked her out anyway. Later, he would tell us we were very lucky she didn't marry that other guy because he was a nerd and we wouldn't have liked him as much as we liked Dad.

During the time they dated Mom and Dad had a lot of fun. He owned a Studebaker sedan and together they took rides with their friends to places like Lookout Mountain and Tulagis in Boulder. From the very beginning, they shared a lifelong love for beer. Especially cheap beer.

Dad enlisted into the Air Force during the Korean War. He served four years as a navigator.

While stationed in Great Falls, Montana, he came home on leave in July 1954 and married Mom. Not long after, at 23 years of age, they had their first child, Bridget, and before they knew it, they had eight children: Bridget, Jim, Patty, Charlie, Jerry, Cass, Bob, and Lou.

After his Air Force service, Dad returned to Denver with Mom, and they started Jim Dwyer Electric. He worked hard to take care of his family. As an electrician he provided us a good home, great educations, and countless opportunities in life. As a businessman, he was honest and well respected. Some of his customers liked him so much that we sometimes wondered if they called him for electrical work or just so they could see him. As busy as he was, he always took time to chat with his customers, and after talking to them a short time, usually they he would figure out that they knew somebody in common, and soon he would have a new friend and a customer for life. Dad was a highly skilled electrician, but his real skill was relating to people.

Although Dad's trade was as an electrician, in his heart he was a rancher. As mentioned earlier, from an early age, he dreamed of owning a ranch and being a cowboy. We all remember as kids, driving around Colorado, packed in a smoked filled station wagon, looking at farms for him to buy. Fortunately, for the sake of our lungs, he and Mom bought a farm in Eastlake, Colorado, in the late 1960's. There we all played in the fields and hunted for frogs in the irrigation ditches while Pops grew corn and tended to his two cows (really, only one cow because the other one broke through the fence the first day he got it and never came back). At Eastlake, he got his first tractor which he loved to drive. He even bought us Shetland ponies, but that didn't turn out well because they weren't really broken and we were all afraid to ride them. In many ways, Eastlake was an experiment at being a rancher for Dad. It wasn't until he and Mom bought their ranch in Bayfield, Colorado, near Durango, that Dad became a real rancher. There, in ""God's Country"", as he called it, he had a herd of cattle and grew 56 acres of hay. Unfortunately, not all of us shared Dad's dream of living on a ranch, so he never got to be a full-time rancher. After owning it twenty-five years or so, Mom and Dad sold the ranch and Dad retired from ranching. In the end, his dream of being a rancher was a great gift to all of us. Summers at the ranch are some of the best memories of our lives.

After agreeing to leave the house for two hours every weekday in order to give Mom space, Dad got to retire as an electrician 18 years ago, and since then, he has been a full-time husband, father, and grandfather. During this time, he probably did his greatest work, and we are grateful for this time with him.

None of us can speak for our parents regarding their relationship or their love for one another, but we can say that to all of us, they appeared to be in love every day of their almost 66 years of marriage. Watching them grow older together has been a privilege and, in the end, they seem to have kept every one of their marriage vows to each other. As a husband, our dad always put Mom first, and he supported her in every way. At no time during the years they were raising us did any of us ever break through their united front, as hard as we sometimes tried. Knowing he loved our mother as much as he did was perhaps the greatest gift he gave to us his children.

As our father, Dad meant something different to each of us, but we all agree that he was a great father. The following are some thoughts about him from his family:

Thoughts From His Family

Early Friday morning, we lost- and Heaven gained- this amazing man, my father-in-law, Jim Dwyer. I first met him in 1985, when I was in high school. My brother-in-law, Lou, was having a party as his parents were out of town. Everyone was having a blast, and suddenly and unexpectedly, his parents arrived home. I was planning my quickest exit from the house and looked up, and there were his parents, joining the party, cracking open a Coors Light. I think they were more disappointed that they weren’t invited to the party than the fact that their son was hosting a party while they were gone. I didn’t see him again until 1993, when I started dating Bob. He spent the last 27 years making me feel as though I was the most amazing person around and always reminded me to “Keep smiling, darling” through the hard times. JD had an amazingly beautiful soul. He didn’t have an easy early life, but he used that hardship to make himself and his children better people. He is sorely missed. 💔

Dad always wanted the best for everyone, especially his family. He was always your biggest cheerleader.

To the bitter end, Pops got excited about the little things in life.

Dad was always welcoming to anyone who came into his home. He loved nothing better than having a beer with you and he always made sure your glass was never empty.

He had a way of making you feel special.

I will miss watching him yell during a Notre Dame game and at Fox News.

Half the reason I married his son was because I saw how well JD treated Joanne.

He always could lift you up no matter how down you felt. He made you feel good about yourself.

Dad was always generous. I think the trash men and others who delivered packages or worked at his house are going to miss the beers and soda he always offered them.

He always could tell a great story.

When I was younger and struggling financially he would wait for Mom to leave the room and slip me money. When he stopped slipping me money I realized I had finally arrived. I always thought it was only me he did this with, but now I know he did it with all of us. The funny thing is, I think Mom knew all along. Either that or she was very clueless.

He was the sweetest and most decent person I ever knew.

I have so many fond memories of Grandpa that I will cherish forever. From going to Senor Pepes with him and Grandma, to sneaking me black licorice that Grandma didn't know he had. He was always making me smile. I will always remember him making breakfasts for the whole family during our 4^th of July celebrations at the lake. He got so much joy out of doing that for his family. His love for his children and grandchildren was evident. He was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. He was so loved and will be missed by so many.

Gramps taught me many things that will be useful to me in life. The most important thing I learned from him was to make sure I kissed my wife every morning before leaving the house.

I loved his peppered eggs, but his salty omelets I could do without.

He had a way of finding a simple solution to what I considered my very big problems. I will miss his good advice.

I remember as a kid how he would sing little songs to us. His two favorites were Daisy Daisy and Some Sunday Morning. I don't think he really knew the actual words to any songs but it was entertaining to hear him sing.

Pops always liked meeting our friends. Usually he would start out by asking them if they would like to feel an electrician's muscle and then he would flex his arm to encourage them to check it out. I guess from now on if you want to feel an electricians muscle you will have to make it to heaven.

I have so many great memories of JD through all the different chapters of our lives. Really, when I think of JD, I picture him saying or singing some catchy little tune when you walked in the door. Then before you could even sit down he would ask if he could get you anything. That seemed to be his role. He was always taking care of others. Always. He was an amazing husband, father, and grandfather as we all know. Just a kind man with a huge heart who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.

Grandpa you were so many things to me.

There are not enough words or feelings to describe you but I'm going to give it the old electricians try. You were a man of extreme grace and humility, you're door and heart were always open in the good times and bad. You've seen me in my darkest and triumphant days. The funny thing is you always offered me the advice to keep smiling because, "" being happy Sam is hard work and you have to keep trying"". This man would hand me money, Pepsi's, Coors Lights (When I was old enough of course 😁), but most importantly he offered a smile no matter what. They say you don't truly appreciate someone enough until they're gone. In this case I appreciate you for being so hard working , full of wisdom and respect, humorous , and finally filled with grace and love. Grandpa I hope they have all the Guinness your heart desires in Heaven because God knows you've earned it. I love you sir.

 

I have so many fond memories of Grandpa that I will cherish forever. From going to Senor Pepes with him and Grandma, to sneaking me black licorice that Grandma didn't know he had. He was always making me smile. I will always remember him making breakfasts for the whole family during our 4^th of July celebrations at the lake. He got so much joy out of doing that for his family. His love for his children and grandchildren was evident. He was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. He was so loved and will be missed by so many.

To Paco: I will always cherish my times with you after school eating salt and vinegar chips and drinking a Pepsi while you sat drinking a beer and we would just sit and watch the news. The times I would stay at your house and you would leave me breakfast out for school and us making the best frosted flake cereal with a little milk and tons of strawberries. You always reminded me you don't put in too much milk or it gets too soggy and you always reminding me of that whenever I came home from college or from Minnesota. To the times we would go to the bar after we would pick up the mail and you always convinced the bartender to let me sit at the bar, and I would have a coke while you had a beer. You always listened with intent and always wanted to make everything better. When times were hard, you always told me ""keep smiling"". I will keep smiling for you Grandpa. Everyone misses you greatly but we know you are watching over every single one of us including all the people you met along the way in life. I love you Paco.

 

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