Leo Jose Romero

"True Disciple"

Leo was born at home in Manassa, Colorado, during the Great Depression. He was born to Abedon Beto Romero and Josefa Bernarda Espinosa. His family later moved into an adobe house on the outskirts of Alamosa next to the county dump. Their home did not have electricity, but his father dug a well and installed a pump in their kitchen. Their only source of heat was a Majestic stove. He did his homework by the light of a kerosene lamp and graduated from Alamosa High School as class valedictorian.

Although they were poor, they had a large garden and never went hungry. When they got a small Guernsey cow, they had milk, butter, and cheese to spare and no one who visited their home left empty-handed. Leo fished, shot rabbits, and hunted deer for food. He trapped muskrats to sell to buy bullets. He would hitch a ride on the narrow-gauge railroad up to the mountains when he was a young teenager and after fishing all day would flag down the train for the ride home. Sometimes he would be gone for a week with a friend. He would take a can of jam and a loaf of bread and his fishing rod. The only warning his dad ever gave him was to stay away from bear cubs.

As a young boy, he shadowed his father and carefully observed him as he repaired machinery and maintained their home and property. He also accompanied his mother as she compassionately visited gold star mothers (they were mothers who had lost sons in the Korean War). He began working at age 10 for a man who picked up trash and would resell things of some value and he learned how it was possible to make money. He and his younger sister picked vegetables in the fields during the summer to earn money for school clothes. He spent time helping his grandfather on his large ranch, working with the cattle and sheep and helping with haying in the fall. He also learned blacksmithing. He worked at a machine shop while he was going to high school. He loved to fish and would always get out of school early when fishing season began. He grew up with a love of the outdoors and had the run of the San Luis Valley and the Conejos Canyon and surrounding areas; hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, camping, and exploring. Leo felt that he had an idyllic childhood with memories that often appeared in his dreams for the rest of his life.

Leo's dad passed away while he was a senior in high school, so after graduating, Leo went to work for the railroad full-time to support his mother, sister, and himself. He stored his dad's Model A and bought a brand-new GM half-ton truck and paid it off in six months.

During the Korean War, there was a rule that you could not serve a Church mission unless you first served in the armed forces. So, Leo joined the Army and the Army sent most of his money to his mother and matched some of it so that she had more income than she had ever had before. He enjoyed basic training because to him it seemed like a game. He was classed as a sharp-shooter. Because of his high score on a written test, he was sent to Germany, rather than Korea. While he was in Germany, he was able to do genealogy work for a member of his ward and travel around Europe. When he returned home, he was called on a Church mission to Mexico a few weeks later. At that time there was only one Mexican Mission although it was soon split into two missions and he served 2 ½ years in the northern mission.

When Leo returned home, he had a dream to own a fish hatchery in Alaska where he would raise shrimp and salmon. On his way to Alaska, he stopped in Salt Lake City to stay at a friend's house and his friend talked him into trying to get a job there. Leo had no trouble getting a job as a machinist and never made it to Alaska. (When the Rio Grande Rail Road located him, they called him every week for an entire year to try to get him to go back to Alamosa, promising him any position he wanted, and they would train him.) After working in machine shops, he got a job at Hercules Aerospace Corporation where he worked for 30 years. He mainly worked as an inspector of tools and traveled around the country, working closely with aerospace companies. He received 15% raises two years in a row for his outstanding work on special projects. At first while he was working for Hercules, he took correspondence courses from BYU with the goal of becoming a mechanical engineer (he got straight "A"s), but he stopped his studies when he got married.

After admiring the beautiful artistry and detailed work in the Salt Lake Temple, Leo wanted to contribute to temples. He taught himself pattern making and metal casting. He was able to contribute to the Logan Temple, Jordan River Temple, San Diego Temple, Nauvoo Temple and also to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and a few commercial establishments. The pattern he made that was used for the Nauvoo Temple stars was later gold-leafed and returned to him to hang in his home.

After his marriage to a beautiful young lady from Mexico that he met in a Spanish-speaking ward, Leo decided he would supplement his income by starting his own business. He paid off his new home and bought new furniture and a new car within just two years. Sadly, the marriage did not last. Thankfully, they were blessed with five wonderful children. At the time of their divorce, three children were still at home and later requested that they live with him which led him to build a home in Draper.

Leo purchased a used commercial rotisserie while he was single so he could cook dinner while he was working. When a grocery store closed, he bought their rotisserie also and could then serve 36 hot chickens at a time! Word got around that his chicken was the best and he gladly provided chicken for families, parties, church activities and his scouts. He never sold his chicken, but "Leo's chicken" became known in the community as a delicious treat.

Leo met his wife, Anna, on a blind date set up by his good friend and neighbor, Steve Peterson, whose family Leo home taught. Steve said that he felt he was inspired and felt promptings twice before acting on them. They knew almost immediately that they wanted to marry. Anna was living in Denver and after calling Anna daily, sending her flowers and beautiful love letters, but only seeing each other in person three times, they married four months later in the Jordan River Temple on June 30, 1984. Leo has often said that marrying Anna was the best decision that he ever made (other than being baptized as a child and joining the Church), and that she was the joy of his life. They quickly added three sons to their family in the next three years. Leo considered giving birth to be a sacred occasion and out of respect wore his church suit with white shirt and tie to the delivery room!

Leo was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He held many callings, including being a member of a bishopric and two high councils. He was glad that he could say that he kept the Word of Wisdom his entire life. After moving to Draper, he also served as a stake missionary for 4 ½ years and another 1 ½ years on a service mission with his wife, Anna. His greatest contribution was probably as a boy scout leader and Scoutmaster. He had many callings in Scouting, the last calling was when he was called to be a Scoutmaster, again, at 70-years old! He loved the young men and took a personal interest in each of them. When he was in his Millcreek ward, he would pile the boys and their backpacks in his old station wagon, a little squished, and off they would go into the High Uintas. Sometimes there were so many boys that their parents had to drop them off at the trailhead. At one time he was the only adult with 23 young men! Later, when the young men became fathers themselves, if they were with their sons and saw him in a store, they would greet him and introduce him to their sons and tell their sons how he influenced their lives for good. A few of his scouts have continued to keep in touch and have visited him at home over the years. He was presented with the Silver Beaver award on March 2, 2002.

Leo had his own business, Romero Pattern and Wood Products Company, for many years and received the U.S. Small Business Administrator's Award for Excellence in 1997. He built cabinets, bookshelves, a kitchen corner bench for his home, tables, and even a casket disguised as bookshelf with removable shelves and a wooden door! But his main work was building highly specialized shipping containers for valuable missile parts that were sometimes worth over a million dollars.

Retiring and downsizing to a small home a few years ago was a relief to Leo as he no longer had to maintain a large property. Living in the same ward was a special bonus and blessing. Getting to spend time together with his dear wife, bonding even closer as she cared for him, and enjoying laughs together, brought spice and a sense of adventure to daily life. He would tell Anna multiple times each day how much she meant to him and how he loved her and wanted to spend eternity with her.

Last September Leo's life-long dream came true when he and Anna sailed on a cruise to Alaska. They also visited relatives in California, Washington, and Colorado, and toured Yellowstone. When they got back after being gone for 3 weeks, someone asked Leo if he was ready for another cruise. He answered, "Why not?" He said that he always wanted to see the Panama Canal. Anna was taken aback, but quickly booked a vacation that included flying to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, sailing through the Caribbean, stopping at a couple island-countries, going through the locks in the Panama Canal, and up the west coast, stopping at a few more countries before reaching San Diego, visiting the Mormon Battalion Historic Site, and flying home.

Leo was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, two sisters, and two grandchildren. He is survived by his loving companion and best friend Anna and his children: Jeanette A. (David) Lynton, Michael K. Romero, Rebecca L. (Andy) Dawe, Carlos L. (Jaroldeen) Romero, Elizabeth (Greg) Smith, Matthew (M'Lindsey) Romero, Christopher (Dana) Romero, Andrew (Tami) Romero, and his stepdaughters: Colleen Daisy Weeks and H. Merry (Dana) Nielson. He is also survived by a sister, Cleo Ann Thomas, a close cousin, Evangeline Marston, and 34 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren, with one more great grandchild on the way.

Funeral services will be Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 11:00 am at the Draper 6th Ward Chapel at 1227 E. Walden Ln. (1300 E.), Draper, Utah. A viewing will be held from 10:00 am - 10:45 am prior to the service. A viewing will also be held Friday, January 24, 2020 from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm at Anderson & Goff Mortuary, 11859 South 700 East, Draper, UT.