Lynn Arthur Schroeder…August 17, 1944 – January 19, 2015

Funeral services for Lynn A. Schroeder will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, January 23, 2015 at the First Baptist Church in Lamar, Colorado. Interment will follow in Fairmount Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel.

Lynn Arthur Schroeder left his physical life on Monday, January 19, 2015, after a long and valiant battle with congestive heart disease. Born August 17, 1944, in La Junta, CO, Lynn was the eldest child and first son of Albert G. Schroeder, Jr., and Francis June (Butler) Schroeder.

Lynn was preceded in death by his father; grandparents Albert G. and Savola (Cole) Schroeder and Arthur R. and Laura (Barnard) Butler; several aunts and uncles; and great-niece, Kiera Coleman.

He is survived by his wife, Lois; mother, June; sister, Karen S. (Ron) Godin, brother, Bruce A. Schroeder, who remembers Lynn as both a brother and a friend; brother-in-law, David (JoPat) Dolsen; nieces, Laura J. Lewis-Tuffin and Chandler and Wendy (Dolsen) Coleman; nephews, David B. (Aislinn) Lewis and Douglas Van Dolsen; great-nephews, Kieran, Kerry and Carlton Coleman; and great-niece, Heidi Lewis.

Lynn grew up with the wide-open plains of Southeastern Colorado as his classroom and the area’s folk-lore and fauna as his texts. A 1962 graduate of Lamar High School, he continued his formal education at Lamar Junior College where he enjoyed being on the livestock judging team under Red Heath. He then put himself through Colorado State University by working at the Rainbow Café and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry.

Lynn married his beloved Rusty, Lois Eleanor Dolsen, in Lamar on February 8, 1969, and the couple made their home in Pueblo where Lynn worked in quality control for American Stores Beef Packing. Several years later they moved to Lamar so Lynn could work with his father as an electrician for Schroeder Electric. Later jobs took them to such places as Eugene, OR, and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

But Lynn’s most unforgettable job was servicing portable rental toilets for Patties’ Potties. While Lynn’s need for work led him to tackle a job others turn their noses up at, Lynn simply did what he did so well many times in his life – he mined all he could from the positive and dismissed the negative. As Lynn was to recall later, “Where else can one go for a ride in the country each day, and someone else pays for the gas?” A ride, one might add, through a country that Lynn loved, respected, and appreciated for its beauty and history. “Where else,” he asked, “can you have a job and not worry about the boss breathing down your neck all the time? All in all, this was a really enjoyable job.”

Lynn served his community through participation in several civic and service organizations and as a member of the First Baptist Church. He was Past Master of the Lamar Lodge Number 90 AM&FM, served on the Prowers County Planning and Zoning Board, and was a member of Rotary. He avidly read and explored the natural and human history of Southeastern Colorado and its neighboring counties. He enjoyed riding historic trains to various scenic destinations.

Lynn’s friends and family recognized what others often missed: beneath a sometimes gruff and stubborn exterior was a kind, interesting, inquisitive, loving, and loyal friend.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church or First Presbyterian Church in care of Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 950, Lamar, CO 81052.

For more information or to leave online condolences please visit www.valleymemorialfc.com.