George Tekoucich

Contributed reportGeorge “Buttons” Tekoucich passed from this life to the glories of heaven Sunday morning, Sept. 17, at the state Veterans Nursing Home in Rifle, a morning that brought the first snow of the season, aspen and oak brush turning to beautiful colors of a western Colorado autumn.George was born on Feb. 22, 1919, in Aspen to Lena (Skriner) and Joseph Tekoucich, the youngest of seven children. He was raised in Aspen and spent his entire life in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys.He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942 and was a member of the famed 10th Mountain Division (ski troops). George trained at Camp Hale near Leadville and served in the Po Valley in Italy and in Kiska, Alaska. When the war ended, he was at Lake Garda in Italy and shipped out from Naples to return to the U.S.

George married Sina May Pepper on June 10, 1946, in Aspen. He and “Pepper” were blessed with three daughters, and he was a loving stepfather to Laurie Lee Green, Pepper’s daughter from her first marriage.The Tekoucich family moved to Glenwood Springs in 1958. George retired from the city of Glenwood Springs in 1973. He and Pepper moved to Rifle for 10 years and then moved back to Glenwood Springs.George worked at many occupations in his life: mining, carpentry, logging and for the Glenwood Springs Public Works Department.He loved his family, the mountains and the outdoors, and cherished his many friends. To George, no one was a stranger, and he would give anyone the shirt off his back. He had a wonderful sense of humor, which we saw more and more in his later years, and he had a mind like a steel trap.George was preceded in death by his parents, all siblings, his wife, daughter and son-in-law, Suzy Jo and Bryon “Butch” Puff, and his stepdaughter.

He is survived by daughters Linde Carole (Mike) Fromm of Helena, Mont., Jorgeann Guccini of Rifle; grandchildren Tim Fromm of Albuquerque, N.M., Callie Milios of Seattle, Johanna Muwamba of Aurora, Sarah Puff of Lakewood, Nichole Guccini of Folsom, Calif., Traviss Guccini of Canyon Creek; great-grandson Maxwell Milios of Seattle; and many beloved nieces and nephews.Those wishing to remember George may make contributions to the American Diabetes Association National Call Center, 170 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311; the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718, or the Macular Degeneration Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 531313, Henderson, NV 89053.I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from when comes my help?My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade at your right hand.The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore. – Psalm 121