Isaac "Ike" Gilpin

ISAAC “IKE” GILPIN

  A celebration reception honoring the life of Isaac Eugene “Ike” Gilpin will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 17, 2023 at the American Legion Hall. He will be properly laid to rest at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, December 18, 2023 at Cortez Cemetery. Visitation will take place from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Monday morning at Ertel Memorial Chapel. Ike’s friends and community are invited to attend both the reception and the interment services.

  Ike was born September 13, 1940 at Summit Ridge, Colo., the son of Eugene Albert and Grace Marie (Foster) Gilpin. He passed away on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, at his residence at the age of 83.

  Surviving Ike are his loving wife, Betty Gilpin of Cortez; his children, Gene Gilpin (Bobbie Foster) of Cortez, Leon Gilpin of Cottonwood, Ariz., Jackie Coleman (Alvin) of Corning, Calif., Marty Gilpin (Shannon) of Greeley, Colo., Gloria Balfour (Jay) of Cortez, Janice Christiansen (Brook) of Cortez, Cecil Larkin of Cortez, Patty Hill of Denver, Colo., and Betsy Hovermale (Robert) of Colorado Springs, Colo.; his siblings, Angelia Kuykendall of Cortez, June Beckham (Bill) of Texas, and Pearlene Vansickle (Steve) of Oklahoma; and by 24 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Ike was preceded in death by his parents; by his first wife, Millie Ann Gilpin; by his children, Billy Gilpin and Lorena Gilpin; by his siblings, Robert Gilpin, Dean Gilpin, Willie Gilpin, Wanda St. John, and Jessey Gilpin; and by his grandson, Joshua Stratton.

  Whether you knew him as Ike, dad, grandpa, great-grandpa, friend, or something else, one thing was the same, you were his family. To know him was to know his love for his family, his work, the outdoors, dancing, music, cars, painting, his dog JJ, and of course, his Juicy Fruit gum, which he carried in his pocket for all the children he encountered to find and share. Amongst many things, Ike will distinctively be remembered for his kind nature, his heart-of-gold, “larger-than-life” personality, his genuine smile, and the love he showed for those around him.

  As a young man, and throughout his early years, Ike loved going hunting with his brother Dean and fishing with his brother Jessey. He loved the time they spent together hunting and fishing for anything and everything they could. He loved Dean and Jessey more than anything in this world. He loved baseball. There was nothing about baseball that Ike didn’t enjoy. From hitting, to fielding, to even breaking his ankle, it didn’t matter, if it happened on that field, he loved it. As Ike got older his love for hunting and fishing turned into his true joy for observing wildlife, deer specifically. He loved to provide pumpkins for the deer to eat, so much so that he would break them open and place them strategically where he knew the deer would find them and could easily eat them. He even stopped raking the leaves and mowing the grass at the house because he knew how much the deer loved to eat those crunchy, dead leaves, and that tall grass. Along with deer, Ike had a special place in his heart for his dog JJ. Ike enjoyed watching JJ help his grandchildren to walk. Where Ike went, JJ went too.

  Ike’s first love was Ann. Ike and Ann were married at a young age, and together, raised six children: Eugene, Leon, Billy, Jackie, Lorraine, and Marty. Together, Ann and Ike loved to dance. If it was up to Ike, they would dance to Hawaiian music, but they truly loved to dance to all music. Ann and Ike shared this love for dance with their children as well. The children would take turns dancing the Tennessee Waltz upon Ike and Ann’s feet throughout the kitchen for hours on end. Ann had a passion for pottery, and Ike enjoyed supporting Ann with this passion, even allocating their garage as the place for Ann’s business.

  Ike’s children will always remember him for his “greasers;” his hands. They were calloused, smelled of grease, stained with oil, and resembled that of hide of an animal; showing the true strength and hard-working nature that lied within. His hands may have been physically calloused, tough, smelly and stained, but they were gentle, never heavy-handed. Along with his gentle hands, Ike had a kind voice; the voice his children will always remember as their dad’s.

  It wasn’t until Ike met Betty, that he developed his love for people. Betty loves people. She introduced him to all his friends, whom he still has to this day. Betty remembers Ike as a “simple old country man who was always kind.” With Betty, Ike loved to dance, to go to the legion for various events, including their wedding 16 years ago. They loved to go to the Ute for breakfast, to host events in the dance hall, and above all, they loved life together. As soon as he and Betty became married, Ike treated all her family as if they were his own, wholeheartedly; always treating them with kindness.

  So much more could be said about Ike, but those that were fortunate enough to know him will always remember Ike’s kind nature, his heart of gold, “larger-than-life” personality, his genuine smile, and the love he showed for those around him. Ike lives on within us all through the memories we share with one another.