Duane Calkins

Duane Allen Calkins was born April 21, 1928 to Millard Calkins and Fern (Mallory) Calkins at home in Colby, Kansas. Duane was the youngest of four children.

Duane was preceded in death by his Father and Mother, brother Alva Calkins of Tulsa, Oklahoma, brother Don Calkins of Limon, Colorado, and sister Alma Davis of Burlington, Colorado. Duane was also preceded in death by his second son Marvin Paul Calkins and his step-daughter Sue Diane (Rossman) Hutaff.

Duane is survived by his wife of forty-four years Janellen (Jewell) Calkins of Parker, Colorado, son Duane Allen Calkins, Jr. (Gerri) of St. Clair, MO, daughter Elaine Marie (Calkins) Gallegos (Benji) of Aurora, CO, son Ronnie Lee Calkins (Tanya) of Aurora, CO and step-son Stephen Earl Rossman of Parker, CO. He is also survived by ten grandchildren; Jacob (Zenea) Gallegos, Tyler (Carrie) Rossman, Dan (Sarah) Calkins, Nicholas (Marie) Gallegos, Christa (Greg) Hutaff-Lee, Matthew (Natasha) Calkins, Tricia (Mike) Storie, Lauren (Chris) Dorman, Jeremy (Tara) Hutaff and Haley (Luke) Landwehr as well as twenty-seven great-grandchildren and a multitude of family and friends. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Duane lettered in wrestling, track and football at Colby High School where he graduated in 1947. Duane worked for a few years as an apprentice electrician after high school. In 1951, Duane married Christina Bedore of Colby, Kansas. After the Korean War began, Duane and several high school friends joined the United States Air Force. Duane trained to become an aircraft mechanic. His most memorable tours of duty were Lowry Air Base in Denver, CO, the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, the 7405th Support Squadron in Wiesbaden, Germany and Cam Ran Bay in Vietnam. Duane retired from the US Air Force in 1972 with the rank of Master Sergeant. After retirement, Duane went to a local community college to become a licensed electrician. He retired from the Safeway Distribution Center as a Master Electrician in 1992.

On January 21, 1978 Duane was married to Janellen (Jewell) Rossman. They enjoyed forty-four years of marriage. Duane and Janellen really enjoyed square dancing. They both served in offices at the local, state, and national level and were inducted into the Colorado State Square Dance Association Hall of Fame. They also enjoyed travelling. One especially memorable trip was a seven week road trip along the Alaskan Highway. They really enjoyed the opportunity to square dance with local clubs along the way. They traveled all around the United States as well as to Hawaii, Germany and Acapulco Mexico.

Along with travelling and square dancing, Duane enjoyed golfing with his buddies, following the Broncos and Rockies as well as keeping up with the grandkids and great grandkids.

Duane was a person of faith. He and Janellen faithfully attended Montclair Methodist church. They enjoyed singing in the church choir. Duane also served as the church music leader for several years. In 1983 the Montclair Methodist choir served as part of the Billy Graham Crusade in Denver. On the last night of the crusade, Duane responded to the invitation and received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. In 2016 Duane and Janellen began to attend Pinecrest Community Church in Parker, Colorado. We are so blessed to know with certainty that we will meet Duane again in Heaven one day!