Philip Andrew Balmforth

PHILIP ANDREW BALMFORTH Memorial services for Cortez resident, Philip Andrew Balmforth will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 21 at the First Baptist Church in Cortez. The church has generously offered to host a lunch immediately following the service. Philip was born on November 12, 1957 in Oxnard, Calif. the son of Stanford Cleworth and Barbara (Deigst) Balmforth. He passed away on June 12, 2004 at his mother’s home in Virginia Beach, Va. Phil lost his fight against bladder cancer at the age of 46. Phil’s father was a Naval Pilot stationed in Oxnard, Calif. Following his fathers footsteps, Phil enlisted in the Navy in 1978 as a Seabee. Phil retired in 2000 and moved to the Cortez area. After traveling all over the world, Phil called Cortez his home. Some of Phil’s favorite pastimes were fishing, hunting and spending time in the outdoors. Surviving Phil are his two teenaged children, Jason (17) and Nicole (16) of Durango. He leaves his mother, Barbara Balmforth of Virginia Beach, Va.; his siblings, David Michael Balmforth and wife, Sally of Altoona, Pa., Anne Elizabeth Coppersmith and husband, John of Dale City, Va., Mark T. Balmforth of Las Vegas, Nev., Gregory G. Balmforth of Las Vegas, Nev., and Paul Damian Balmforth and wife, Carolyn of Ft. Polk, La. Preceding him in death was his father, Stanford Balmforth; and his brother, Matthew John Balmforth. Phil was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on July 1, 2004.