Donald “Don” Houston English of Chromo, Colo., passed away March 24 at Pine Ridge Extended Care Center in Pagosa Springs.Don was born Sept. 20, 1936, to Will H. English and Laura Chappel in Warner, Okla. He was raised on the family farm and graduated from Warner High School in 1954. After some college, he went to work for OneK Gas as a computer technician when a computer was the size of a room. He then moved to Albuquerque, N.M., with his family, where he worked at University of Northern New Mexico as a computer technician. After becoming enamored with beautiful southern Colorado and its real estate opportunities in the early 1980s, he moved to Pagosa Springs in 1983 and spent the next 25 years buying and selling real estate.
Don loved the outdoors and wildlife and was an avid participant in hunting, fishing and horseback riding. He loved feeding his fish in his Chromo Valley Ranch ponds and enjoyed sharing the beauty of the ranch with adults and children alike, teaching anyone with the desire how to fly-fish.
Don was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Laurel Penwell; his brother, Boyd, and wife Charlene English, of Oklahoma; brother James and his wife, Brenda English, of Texas; sister Wanda and Allen Travis, of New Jersey, and sister Wilma Nell McClure, of Oklahoma; his daughters, Diana Kadle, and Lynda Lee and husband Tom Mullen, his son Larry English, all of Albuquerque, N.M.; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Cremation has occurred and his ashes will be scattered on the ranch in a Celebration of Life in the near future. Please call Laurel at 749-3357 for information about the celebration. In lieu of donations or flowers, please donate to your favorite charity or cause.
