William Aubrey Leigh, Sr.

Born at 1045 Knox Court, Denver, Colorado, on February 5, 1915. He grew up there and as a young boy he worked parttime at the Red and White Store on the corner of 10th and Knox Court. As he grew to be a young man, he started dating that young beautiful girl across the street. Her name is Evelyn Grace Mills. William and Evelyn were married on the 27th of September, 1936. This is my Dad and my Mom. After Dad and Mom were married, they purchased a dump truck and Dad hauled coal from the mines and delivered the coal to residences all over Denver. I am not sure how long Dad did this for a living before Dad and Mom moved to Hot Sulfur Springs. In Hot Sulfur Springs, Dad and Mom rented a one room cabin with a dirt floor. They lived there a while and Dad used his dump truck to haul dirt and rock for the construction of Williams Fork Reservoir. Dad and Mom also lived in Granby and Dad hauled material for the construction of Grandby Dam, Green Mountain Dam and the Moffit Tunnel. When Dad and Mom moved back to Denver, they purchased some property at 3838 West Kentucky Avenue and Dad built a two car garage on the back of the lot and he finished the inside of it so that they could live in it. Inside was a small kitchen, dining room, living room and one bedroom. Sometime in this time frame Dad went to work for Gardner Denver as a Machinist. Dad began building a cinderblock house on the front of the lot and had only gotten the walls part way up when World War II began and he was drafted into the Army in 1944. In the Army, Dad fought throughout the Philippine Islands and was on his way to Japan when the Atomic Bomb was dropped and the war ended. Dad was discharged from the Army in 1945 and when he returned home, he resumed with building the house and finished building it in 1954 and we moved out of the Garage and into our new House. Dad worked as a machinist for Gates Rubber Company, a mechanic for Kumpf Lincoln & Mercury and for Hill Auto Service. He eventually bought a piece of property and built his own automotive repair shop, Leigh Auto Service, and ran that business until he retired and sold the business. After retiring, Dad and Mom traveled all over the United States for a number of years.