Kier M. Cline I

He was a Kansas boy with a dancing dad, a storytelling mom, two big brothers - one a bit wild and the other studious and lawyerly - and a sweet little sister. He helped his dad deliver milk, worked in his dad's bar and went on family road trips to Colorado in a caravan of cars when cars were a novelty.
Once he was "all growed up and haired over" (his words), he headed to Chicago via Milwaukee to pursue a life of art. In Milwaukee he met his first wife with whom he had two children. One would think that was all the art he needed as they were (are) magnificent children, but his artful itch was in need of more scratching.
He got a filmmaking degree at Columbia College and went on to make many films including a documentary about a hollerin' contest called "Welcome to Spivey's Corner," which can be seen on Folkstreams.net, and a documentary called "Kathy," which won a daytime Emmy and can be seen on YouTube.
In 1979, he met his soulmate who shared his love of film but on the production side. They worked together for years in Chicago until they got sick of the "rat race" and headed out to Colorado. By this time caravans of cars were no longer a novelty.
The couple settled in Sphinx Park at the end of a treacherous winding road (at least according to their flatlander family) on top of a steep mountain overlooking paradise. They named their cabin "Another Day in Paradise," and that old Kansas boy took the phrase to heart as he fished, carved, built, laughed, loved and listened to Willie Nelson in his mountain log cabin.
What everyone should know about Kier M Cline I, and if you know him, you do know this about him: He was fun.
Sometimes thrilling, scary fun like turning off the car lights at night while driving down an empty road. Or throwing you high in the air and into the deep end of the pool. Or climbing a weeping willow so high that all you see are the bottom of his shoes. Sometimes slapstick fun like when he'd ask someone if their ice cream cone smelled funny and when they'd bend to sniff it and find out, he'd smoosh it in their face. It was hilarious as long as it wasn't you.
Sometimes a more cerebral fun like when he drove down what we called River Road and saw someone had put a sign in a pile of dirt that said Private Dirt. He went back the next day with a shovel and his own sign, which said Sargeant Shovel.
Sometimes shocker fun like when he had his wife paint his left toenails hot pink so when the hospice caregiver took off his socks, she'd see he had sweet feet just like he flirtatiously called hers. He died with the pink toes, which was a perfect way to go as there is no stronger armor to keep a man safe in a new world than a sense of humor.
A celebration of Kier's life will be held at Crossroads Pub and Grill, 16 Mount Evans Blvd., Pine, from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2019. The gathering is open to the public. Food prices range from $4-$16
See www.crossroadspubgrill.com for more menu and pricing details.