John Vanderhoof obit

Rest In Peace Former Governor John D. Vanderhoof 

He was not on the list.

“Thursday Evening a great man left this world. A member to the WWII Generation, he served in the USN Air Corps in the F$F Hellcat in the Pacific Theater earning multiple medals including The Navy Cross & the Purple Heart. Like so many men of his generation he came home determined to build a better America than he was born into. He convinced his war bride and his father to start a sporting good business in a sleepy little tourist town, Glenwood Springs Colorado. Later His brother would join them in opening up a banking business. He raised 2 children, and entered politics. He served 20 yr in the House of Representatives, many of those years serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was elected to the office of LT Governor in 1970 and later ascended to the office of Governor of The Great State of Colorado in 1972. When he left office he led Club 20 (an organization the works promotes the economic & political goals of Colorado’s 20 western Slope Counties) for many years. He married his real soul mate Ruthie.

This was my father, John D. Vanderhoof.  The greatest lesson he taught me was the importance of service.  He always told me we must give back to our community.  It did not matter how.  If one taught church school, participated in the PTA, volunteered at the local food bank, a summer reading program . . . It did not matter . . . It was just important that we give back to our communities.

In his 1st State of the State Address he ended with a statement which I can only paraphrase.  He told us to “leave Colorado a better place than we found her.”   He would advise all of us to extend that concept to our neighborhood, our hometown, our state and our great nation.  If we want a better life for our self and those who follow, we must follow the lead of The Great Generation, and put the well being of all ahead of our own.  We must spend some of our time and energy serving our communities.

Please keep my family in your prayers and consider pondering on my father’s wisdom.  I believe we would all be better if we listened to it.”

Born in Rocky Ford, Colorado, Vanderhoof graduated from Glendale College in California in 1942 and joined the Navy.

He served in Naval Aviation during World War II, flying over 100 sorties as a fighter pilot. In 1945, he suffered a broken leg when his aircraft was shot down near the Philippines and his parachute malfunctioned. Vanderhoof received two Purple Hearts, the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for his service from 1943 to 1945.

After the war, he worked in the family sporting goods business and later became a bank executive.

Vanderhoof was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1950, and served twenty years until 1970. He was a former chairman of the Game and Fish Committee and Business Affairs Committee of the House. Minority floor leader during the 43rd General Assembly and elected Speaker of the House for the 44th, 46th, and 47th General Assemblies.

In 1970, he became the first lieutenant governor elected under a new constitutional provision calling for the joint election of Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

In 1974, Vanderhoof sought election as Governor in his own right. In the Republican primary, Vanderhoof dispatched conservative cable television executive Bill Daniels with over 60% of the vote. He was defeated in the 1974 general election by State Senator Richard Lamm, 53% to 46%.