Benny Montoya

Benny Montoya was born in the Spring of 1927 in Florence, Colorado to Frances Trujillo Montoya and Amarante Montoya. He grew up in Alamosa, Colorado where he attended school at Central Elementary, Alamosa Junior and High School, and attended church at Sacred Heart. He held jobs delivering the newspaper and moonshine, shined shoes and herded goats. He did whatever he needed to do to help his mother after his father died when he was 3 years old, leaving a family of 7 children to care for on her own. Having grown up during the Great Depression, Benny learned the value of hard work and it was something that he never forgot. He also had a huge love of nature and spent most of his free time in the great outdoors hopping trains to go fishing and exploring all the hills and valleys of Alamosa and the San Luis Valley. In August of 1944, at the age of 17, Benny enlisted in the Army to join World War II and did a European Tour of Operations where he marched from Italy, where he witnessed Benito Mussolini and his wife hanging in the town square, through Germany and Austria until November of 1946 and was awarded three medals of honor and a ribbon. After a brief break and the end of the war, Benny reenlisted and was sent to Japan where he served as a Military Police and Staff Sergeant for three more years. Benny never talked much about his time in Europe but he had many stories and lots of pictures about his time in Japan. After being honorably discharged from the Army in 1950, Benny went back to school to get his G.E.D. then enrolled in Barnes Business College to get a business degree. It was also during this time that he was a bellhop and operator at the Olin Hotel located in Downtown Denver right across from Cathedral (Basilica of the Immaculate Conception). Then on Easter Sunday of 1956 he met the woman who would later become his wife, Beatrice (Bea) Apodaca, at a dance at the Rainbow Ballroom where many of the "Greats" performed. They fell in love and were married six months later on September 29, 1956 and had five children, two girls and three boys, who they raised in North Denver. He took his family fishing and camping in the rivers, lakes and mountains of Colorado during many Spring and Summer vacations. Steamboat Springs will always hold many dear memories for the family. Benny and Bea would have celebrated 60 years of marriage this September. During the early years of Benny and Bea's marriage, he started working for a Master Plumber who he apprenticed under before eventually getting his own Master Plumber license for the State of Colorado. It was in 1968 when Benny opened up his plumbing shop, Compass Plumbing Company. He taught many men and a couple women this valuable trade which they still practice today. He also passed this skill on to all three of his sons. Benny did a lot of jobs for the City of Denver including plumbing at Denver International Airport, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Urban Gardens, Denver Housing Authority, Santa Fe Plaza and Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church to name just a few of the more notable locations. Compass Plumbing Company was in business until 1998 when he eventually closed the doors due to health problems. Benny retired at the age of 62 and was later diagnosed with dementia. Bea cared for Benny for nearly 14 years until the dementia and other health problems required he have 24/7 care and she was no longer able to provide quality care at home. Benny went into Allison Care Center in October of 2013 and lived there until he passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 27th, 2016. Benny is survived by his wife Beatrice, Children: Loretta Simms (David), Benjamin Montoya (Vibeke), Reginald Montoya (Sandy), Veronica Montoya, and Carlos Montoya (Carrie), Grandchildren: Matthew Montoya (Amber), Amanda Bowles (Zachary), Nicholas Montoya (Danielle), Abby Montoya (Tomas), Andrew Simms, Shantell Romero, Reggie Montoya Jr. (Brandi), Cruz Montoya, Danielle Montoya (Michael), Grace Montoya, Jeremiah Montoya and Sunny Montoya. Great Grandchildren: Angelina Montoya, Adrian Montoya, Adrianna Montoya, Grace Montoya, Blaise Bowles, Marquis Montoya, Sophia Romero, Sebastian Ornelas, Benny Montoya, Silas Bowles;7 sister-in laws: Margaret Apodaca, Inez (John) Crowe, Evelin (Bob) Seay, Carolyn Mannon, Helen (Tony) Chavez, Henrietta (Charlie) Garcia, Lucille (JR) Montoya, 4 brother-in-laws: Manuel (Angie) Apodaca, Frank (Lupe) Apodaca, Dan (Linda) Apodaca and Daniel (Chris) Apodaca and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends Three Grand dogs and a pet Spider named Herman.