Gensch: Grateful for John Keleher, John Callahan

This letter is a bit overdue, but I wanted to express my gratitude to you for posting an old St. Patrick’s Day picture of John Keleher and John Callahan working, as they have done for many years, on the St. Mary’s dinner. Folks who haven’t been here multiple decades might not know the precious story that picture tells. As Aspen continues to grow and change, it seems important for those who call themselves Aspenites to understand how we grew from a sleepy (almost ghost) mining town to a world-class resort that today is working to hold onto its history and values in the face of exponential growth.

These two men, Keleher and Callahan, played huge roles in Aspen’s development both as a ski resort AND as a friendly town in which one neighbor supported the other. Their children attended school here together. They worked to help Aspen grow in a sane, healthy manner. They and their lovely wives, now both deceased, spent the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond working in the hospital, the Thrift Shop the schools, the governmental/business development of Aspen, and St. Mary’s Church — in any and every way they could.

Take a moment and be grateful for many salt-of-the-earth men and women who helped build the foundation of Aspen as a world-class ski town and a place thousands have loved to call home.

Nancy and Wolf Gensch

Carbondale