Ruth Z. Weikle

In 1945, he believed he was heading for the South Pacific as a B-29 Superfortress flight engineer; destination Saipan. But the Big Game in the Pacific ended stranding hundreds of Army Air Corps flight crews stateside only to be shuffled from base to base like so many discarded playing cards. Second Lieutenant Warren ""Hoptoad"" Weikle eventually found himself stationed at Lowry Air Field waiting to be dealt his final hand and spending off-duty hours at Denver's historic Rainbow Ballroom, the largest indoor dance hall in Colorado and a magnet for the servicemen stationed at Lowry Air Field. It was a short streetcar ride to 5th and Lincoln Street from her home on Jason St. It took a little longer to get there from Lowry in the middle of nowhere Aurora. But somehow, across a crowded dance floor, they found each other. Hoptoad, a red-headed West Virginian of German heritage with a family history that predated the Civil War, and Bootsie, a first-generation, raven-haired Italian beauty from Denver's Italian Northside whose parents hailed from Agnone and Calabria. She was very shy, almost too afraid to dance although she was well versed in ballroom and tap; he didn't know how to dance at all. But he played his cards right and cashed in his chips on the spot. Together they danced their way through the next 69 years only to be separated for less than a month when the music ended. He returned to Denver and they married in December of 1946. While at the University of Denver he answered the call for ""part-time"" work at United Air Lines, and almost 50 years later he retired as one of the most senior UAL employees having seen duty as station agent in South Bend, Indiana, and Flight Operations Instructor for over 30 years in Denver. He finished out as a second officer on the Boeing 747, the flagship of the UAL fleet, flying from San Francisco to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and China as well as flying troops home from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the close of Desert Storm. She attended Barnes Business College and worked at the Denver Welfare Bureau. Later, when United transferred him to Indiana, she worked for the Studebaker Corporation in South Bend where their first child, Randel Wayne was born. Eleven months later, Daniel Joseph arrived in Denver. In 1953, with one son on the runway and another in the hangar, they moved into a house in North Denver where they remained for 67 years-the last of the original neighbors in this ""suburban"" development on Vallejo Street. Eventually, the landing pattern became full. Randy (Major-USA-R/Jackson Health Care-VP) married Susie Holden (Captain-USA-R and Certified Nurse/Midwife); Dan married Marla Huff (both retired teachers). Susie provided grandsons, Jeff and Brandon (Ashley); Marla added granddaughters; Allyson (Chad LaRocca) and Jessica (Lt. Cmdr. Rick Boswell-USN). Later great-grandchildren came along; Madelyn and Lucas followed by Violet and Evelyn. He spent a lifetime in the air. ""Granddaddy Warren"" remained in the United States Air Force Reserve retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel and was a command search pilot for the Colorado Civil Air Patrol. His many stories of his experiences as an Army Air Corps cadet and CAP search pilot entertained two generations of our family. On the home front, she gained renown for her needlework and gifted friends and family with her knitted and crocheted hats, scarves, Afghans, and Christmas ornaments. It was well known that ""Granny Boots"" our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother held all the cards and controlled the game on the ground and in the air. In later life, they both became involved with The Marine Wounded Warrior Regiment and made significant contributions to help wounded, ill, and injured Marines transition from military to civilian life through the efforts of the Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy. Warren F. Weikle, 91, died November 14, 2015. Ruth Z. Weikle, 89, followed December 11, 2015. He is survived by numerous family members, including a favorite nephew and flying buddy Michael Weikle. She is also survived by numerous family members including a sister Barbara ""Bobbie"" Capra and her children Tom and Loretta (Bill Ellis) and Dana Priola son of the late Mike Priola and Adelyn Priola-Viles, their older sister. As per Warren's request, there will be no services. The remains will be scattered during the spring at an undisclosed location somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The family requests donations be made to The Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy in care of Greg Wilson; President WWUA, Inc., 1439 Hammock Beach Road, Swansboro, NC 28584.