Tom was born Jan. 27, 1927, in Texas, to Gus and Ola LaQuey. He died on June 30, at the age of 94. He was preceded in his passing by his parents, his brothers C.C., Quentin, Kermit, Jerry, and Olan, and one sister, Vaughn Dell.
His wife, Lois LaQuey, preceded him in passing in April of 2010. The story is from Lois, that the first time she saw her husband of 60 years was when he was hanging upside down riding a bucking bull in a rodeo in Gunnison. Tom loved his wife dearly and spoke of her until he went to join her and their Savior Jesus in Heaven.
They had five children: Julie, Tom and Tim preceded their dad in passing. Merrie Brown of Peoria, Ariz., and Susie LaQuey of Palisade, are his surviving children, along with nine grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren.
Tom was living in Palisade when he passed on to Heaven. His last breath on this Earth was breathed at HopeWest Hospice Facility in Grand Junction.
This tribute was written by Tom’s only surviving sibling, younger brother Alan LaQuey, of Ft Worth, TX:
Tom was a God-fearing man and an established cowboy.
He wore high heel cowboy boots and a Stetson hat all of his life. After he served a tour of duty in the Army in WWII, he came home to his parents’ house and helped them with their ranch in the Gunnison area. He helped put up 600 tons of hay with only teams of horses, no tractors, and he sometimes spent 10 hours a day horseback riding in the Gunnison mountains, looking for strays from his father’s ranch.
After a short time of attending college in Gunnison where he met his wife, he transferred to Colorado A&M in Ft Collins and received a degree in agriculture and horticulture. He then received a job as an extension agent in Northeastern Colorado.
After many years, he retired from the Extension Service and joined the Foreign Service and served as an agriculture and horticulture agent in several foreign countries, i.e. Botswana, Africa, Israel, and several other countries, before coming back to Colorado and settling in Durango, starting up a real estate business.
He was a quiet, likable man who will be missed.
