Howard Lewis Linscott

Howard Lewis Linscott was born to Desler and Margaret (Brock) Linscott on November 3, 1940 in Montrose, Colorado at St. Luke’s Hospital. He died February 17, 2018 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado. He was 77. He attended Oak and Maple Grove schools, graduating from Montrose High School in 1958. Growing up, he milked the family’s cows before school and tended their sheep. He went to work immediately, never stopping until the day he died. He worked for area ranchers until the spring of 1968, when he decided to make horses his life’s work and leased the historic Ouray Livery Stable. For 36 years, Howard and Jeralyn Linscott, along with their daughters, guided dudes and hunters until middle daughter Sherry took over the business. The Linscott family, along with Howard’s parents and sister Ruth, ran the popular Chuckwagon dinners. The family expanded to Telluride, where youngest daughter Suzan operated Telluride Outfitters. For several winters, Howard and family lived in Phoenix, Arizona, supplying horses for guest ranches.
Howard had a life-long affinity for horses. He could ride anything, broke or bronc. He especially loved duns, buckskins and sorrels with lots of chrome! He loved to handle cattle, along with oldest daughter D’Ann. He taught himself to shoe horses. During high school, he participated in FFA and 4-H clubs. One year, he had the Grand Champion Catch-it Lamb, and caught a steer in the same event. He enjoyed going to the Denver Stock Show. In later years, he was chosen to appear in a Coors commercial and was featured in a documentary, Losing the West. He was photographed thousands of times by not only amateurs, but also professionals. Howard had a great voice and loved to sing. He often changed song lyrics to an off-color version. He had a million friends, and never met a stranger. He wasn’t afraid of anything except snakes!
Howard met the love of his life, Jeralyn Frandsen, on a blind date and they were married in Delta, Colorado, in St Michael’s Catholic Church on October 27, 1962. Jeralyn was Howard’s true life-long partner. They did everything together, including some of their favorites—long evening drives, playing pool and gambling at Towac. They have three daughters, D’Ann (Wesley) Linscott-Dunham, Sherry Petersen and Suzan (Tracy) Hatter. Grandchildren include Ryan (Kristin) Hatter, Jessie (Ken) Orvis, Desler (Brittany) Hatter and Brandi (Kassi) Dunham. There are nine great-grandchildren: Landyn Hatter, Tracy, Walter and Marshall Orvis, Hailey Hatter, Adrianna, Abigail, Becca and Isabelle Boozell.
Two sisters survive: Ruth (Jim) Burlison of Olathe and Peggy (Gerald) Hoeppner of Salt Lake City, along with numerous nieces, nephews and friends too numerous to list. His dog, Rodeo, too.
Howard was preceded in death by his parents, sister Ruby Hoeppner and son-in-law Curtis Petersen. Services will be held on Saturday, February 24, at the Ridgway 4-H Event Center at 2:00 p.m.