OLD FRIENDS WE MISS

Grady Lee Matthews

Our beloved Grady was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. His family and friends were precious commodities to him that were subsidized by his love of skiing, Nascar, and a cold beer. He was a real estate appraiser, teacher, and state gymnast. Grady was born in June of 1936 and passed away on March 26, saturated in love by Lucille (LaGuardia), his wife of 49 years, his son, Todd, his daughter, Kelly, daughter-in-law, Jean, grandsons, Nick, Zach, and Beau, granddaughters, Amber and Liz, and sisters, JoAnn Faddis and Mary Jane Bolton. Thank you for sharing your wonderful life with us. Memorial Mass, 9:00 AM Wednesday at the Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary. Services will conclude in the chapel. Please make donations to Collier Hospice.

Published in Denver Post on 3/29/2009

John Quintana, 52, fleet of foot - and mind (published 1994)
By Gary Massaro
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

There was a family saying about Johnny Quintana: "He says what everybody else would like to say." That's a fitting epitaph for the Denver native.
Mr. Quintana, 52, died Jan. 23 in Westminster after a long illness. Services were Jan. 26 at St. Cajetan's Roman Catholic Church. Burial was in Fort Logan National Cemetery.
He was an outstanding gymnast, diver and golfer. If it involved athletics, Mr. Quintana wanted to compete. "When he was younger, he played football. But he didn't have the size," said his wife, Jan Evans Quintana.
But he had the heart.
"He was a role model for the Hispanic community," she said. "He had to do it the hard way. He didn't have a lot of coaching when he was younger."
So Mr. Quintana taught himself and became a champion diver, representing North High School. "He lived in the gym," said his wife, a coach at North High School.
He also was a champion gymnast and attended the University of Denver, where he also excelled. He just missed making the 1964 Olympic team.
He was a member of the U.S. gymnastics team that traveled to Mexico in 1965. He joined the Navy and served as a corpsman in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. He was disabled in the war.
Mr. Quintana and his wife were married in Denver on April 29, 1966. Other survivors include his daughter, Wendy Quintana of Westminster; a son, Johnny Quintana of Westminster; his mother, Stella Salazar of Denver; his stepfather, Horacio Salazar of Denver and two grandchildren.
"Being a coach myself, I wish we had more young people with the dedication and drive," his wife said. "His goal was the Olympics."
Although he didn't make it, he kept his sense of humor, coming up with quick quips that others wished they'd thought of.
And that's how the family saying got started.