Giving Back

the only general science degree ever awarded by Adams State,” Brian Kliesen said.

It is obvious Brian speaks from a sincere admiration for his father and his many adventures in college and life. Gary’s father, Brian’s grandfather, Elmer W. Kliesen, journaled details from Gary’s young adulthood. Below is a summary of those writings (with additions from June, who transcribed the long-hand in the 1990s).

Gary J.

R.

Memorial Scholarship for Adams State STEM students

Gary J. and June (Malenchini) Kliesen met at Adams State and always spoke fondly of their time in Alamosa and in school. Their zest for life and community engagement inspired their children to establish the Gary J. and June R. Kliesen Memorial Scholarship for Adams State STEM students.

Joel Kliesen, security specialist/police officer; Brenda Kliesen, architectural engineer; and Brian Kliesen, retired USFS wildland firefighter, said their parents made great friends in college that they kept in touch with their entire lives.

June was active in all manner of activities on campus. She received a bachelor’s in biology from Adams State and a master’s in microbiology from Fort Hays State University, Kansas. For 34 years June taught biology, micro biology, math and other STEM courses at Dodge City Community College (DCCC).

She was very active at DCCC, including volunteering for sports programs, fund raisers and social events. In 2014 she was honored by DCCC with the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award. She also worked on numerous university projects, including collecting moths and monitoring a bat colony. She traveled to Bermuda, Belize and Alaska to take extension classes after she retired.

Gary took a few extra years to finish school, but graduated with a bachelor’s in general science. “The college was so desperate to get him out that they created a degree for him,

Gary Kliesen played football for Dodge City Junior College and would have gone on to Kansas State University, if not for a road trip with a buddy to Chile, in South America, to go skiing. After graduating from DCJC they headed south in a red Chevrolet convertible. Car troubles, lack of finances and trouble with the language led to auctioning most of their belongings on a street corner in Panama and signing on with a tuna boat to get back home. By the time they returned to California shores, it was too late and Gary had lost his football scholarship to KSU.

According to June, Gary asked to be set ashore earlier but the captain refused. Gary retaliated by refusing to work and the captain quit feeding him. Gary stole jars of peanut butter…it was quite the experience. Fortunately, the entire saga caused Gary to view other options and he landed on Adams State, where he played football on a scholarship.

Gary’s academic career was sprinkled with disagreement with administration and local law enforcement. In one instance fueled by alcohol, a classmate and Gary stirred up trouble resulting in the two of them falling through a large plate glass window and waking up in an Alamosa jail cell.

A separate incident involved sneaking into the women’s dormitory after hours and waking up all kinds of trouble. Some of the rule-breakers were arrested on the spot; Gary managed to make it back to his dorm room. “When he got to his room there stood the Dean of Men, Keats R. McKinney,” June wrote.

When asked if he was in the raid, Gary, despite a tendency of rule-bending, admitted the truth. He was kicked out of school for the rest of the semester, returning in the fall. He joined the Rodeo Club, took up bull and bareback bronc riding and organized a rodeo, but ran into further obstacles. He sold ads for the program, mostly bought by local bars and liquor stores who knew the rodeo would bring in students and customers. At the time, the state school policy prohibited liquor ads in school programs. According to June, Gary tried to return the money, but the merchants encouraged him to keep it for the rodeo. And Gary, being a rather independent spirit, included the ads in the program, for the rodeo hosted in Monte Vista, and McKinney threw him out of school again.

After college, Gary and June married in 1965 and moved to Denver, Colo. Gary worked for Lead Ballast and traveled most of the United States. Because of his job, they soon relocated to Salina, Kansas, where he was more centrally located, and June took a position with Asbury Hospital in the laboratory, and took courses at Marymount College.

The couple lived for a time in Jackson, Wyoming, where their twins, Brenda and Brian, were born. They were living in a trailer home when Gary’s parents came to visit and offered him a partnership in their tire store back home. Gary finished out his professional career owning and operating OK Tire, in Dodge City, Kansas. His enthusiasm for life kept him involved in the community. He initiated the Dodge City Ski Club. He helped start and run the Boot Hill Bowl for ten years and stayed active in local rodeo among many other things.

The Adams State football team played at the last Boot Hill Bowl, an NAIA post season bowl game in 1980, losing to Cameron 34 to 16. “My dad's other adventures at Adams State included visiting Western State College, in Gunnison, Colo., and painting an enormous 'A' on the side of the administration building, prior to their football game. He often said they didn't have a very good football team when he was there. He would say that their best play was the fair catch,” Brian added.

After he retired and sold the store, Gary and June bought a ranch near Coldwater, Kansas.

June kept up with her husband (and kept him alive during his many adventures at the ranch) and enjoyed dancing, skiing, hiking, travel and gardening. She was active in the American Association of University Women, Kansas Native Plants Society and was a NOAA weather watcher. She was a board member of the Kiowa County Hospital and was a substitute teacher for a time in Coldwater.

Health Care Foundation Scholarship

The Health Care Foundation recently established the SLV Health Care Foundation Scholarship for $5,000; to be awarded at $1,000 to five students, over the next three years. Recipients must be nursing majors with a 3.0 or better GPA (in nursing courses).

Health Care Foundation Board Members include Beneranda Chacon ’91, Carla Gomez and Selso Lopez ’91. To be eligible to serve on the board, members must be from the San Luis Valley. Chacon represents Rio Grande, Mineral and Alamosa counties; Lopez represents Conejos and Costilla counties; and Gomez represents Saguache county.

The mission of the Foundation is to provide health care resources to all six counties of the San Luis Valley.

“With the rising cost of nursing school and the shortage of nurses in the San Luis Valley, the board felt that setting up the scholarship could help students in the valley and hopefully they would continue to work in the valley after graduation,” Chacon said.

The Health Care Foundation is an independent organization, not affiliated with any health organization. The Foundation has aided the San Luis Valley in numerous ways, from purchasing freezers for the food bank to funding workshops on alternative medicine.

CHFA Next Phase

Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) announced its second phase of scholarship funding awarded to Colorado universities, including Adams State. The fund will support Adams State with $100,000 in scholarships during a 10-year period, 2022-2032. Adams State will receive four $2,500 scholarships annually for students majoring in mechanical engineering.

Visit chfainfo.com/scholarship

CHFA’s Building the Future Scholarship Fund, launched in 2022, dedicates $1.2 million to support college education across Colorado. CHFA created the fund to strengthen Colorado’s future workforce, advance equity in education access and promote leadership in affordable housing and economic development.