DAVIS

deep breath,” Moore said. “He would say, ‘We will make this work. We don’t have to make a big deal out of it. He taught me to just take a breath and go on.’”

Love of tech

John loved spending hours in electronic stores, including time there with his grandchildren.

Grandson Gabriel Chow spoke of a trip he took with John to the Boeing Airplane factory in Everett, Washington, and Gabriel had two tour guides: the o cial one and his grandfather.

“While walking to the tour center, Papa’s excitement eclipsed the size of that building,” Gabriel said. “It’s one of the best trips I ever took.”

John was a union o cer and became part of United Airlines’ management team culminating as a eet captain of the 747-400s. After retiring from ying, he worked for Boeing as an instructor.

Daughter Anna Chow explained that John would get so excited about something everyone would take for granted, and he loved experiencing life and sharing it with others.

A nice guy

Chow said John was her dive buddy, and she learned four tenets about life from him. First, always have a plan, whether it’s diving, ying or in life. Second, always make sure the equipment is safe. ird, keep an eye on each other, andnally, when in doubt, just breathe.

Family members talked about all the people John touched throughout his life, making a di erence to all of them, noting that his energy and spirit will always be here.

Jimy Murphy of Evergreen said John was so nice that he worried about John.

“I never met a nice, kind, interesting man like John, and I watched carefully to see if he could navigate this world. Not only could he navigate it, but he probably was the happiest, most successful human being that I knew. I’m so proud to have his friendship.”

Chow said this of her dad, paraphrasing “Mary Poppins”: “A spoonful of my dad made everything a little lighter.”

Just Around Here and Evergreen Players contributed to this story.

Conifer wrestling team growing since regrouping two years ago

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Building a high school wrestling program is no easy task, but it has been happening at Conifer High School for the last two years.

Nick Adamson of Bailey, who wrestled from the time he was a young child through college, took on the challenge of starting the team from scratch. A couple of years before that, he became involved with Mountain Grapplers, a local club team for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.

With a feeder program in place, Adamson was ready — with a little coaxing from Conifer Athletic Director Eric Kragel — to tackle building a team.

“As time went on, it became more and more obvious the longer (the Conifer team) laid dormant, the harder it would be to come back,” Adamson said.

With a six-member team last and a 14-member team this year, Conifer wrestling is gaining momentum.

“We are still very much in a re-