Harold Leroy Felte

1932 - 2019

Harold Leroy Felte

Flower Mound, TX - Died: August 9 at his home in Flower Mound, Texas

Born: July 19, 1932, at Severance, Colorado, to Fred Felte and Margery Ellen (Weber) Felte.

Harold attended Severance Elementary School and Windsor High School, Windsor, CO, where he was all-conference football center for two years, and he played catcher on the State Junior Softball Championship team in 1949. Active in Future Farmers of America, Harold earned the FFA State Farmer Degree and he was Colorado State FFA Public Speaking Champion in 1950, the year he graduated.

Felte attended Colorado A & M, now Colorado State University, where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, lettered as catcher for the CSU varsity team, served as photographer for the Rocky Mountain Collegian and the Silver Spruce Yearbook, and trained in ROTC. He graduated in 1954 with a B.S. in Animal Sciences and was named a Silver Spruce Pacemaker. He then received the commission of U. S. Air Force Second Lieutenant.

Harold Felte and Joleita Weber were married in Montrose, CO, on December 19, 1954. Harold spent another year at CSU working toward a master's degree in Vocational Agriculture Education. He then went through pilot training and served as Single Engine Jet Reconnaissance Pilot, stationed in Okinawa. Honorably discharged in 1958, Felte continued to serve as a USAF Reserve Captain until 1978. He continued his interest in photography with his wedding photography business, Fotos by Felte.

Felte farmed and fed cattle in the Severance area of Weld County. He was Windsor-Severance United Way chairman for two years, and he served on the CSU Livestock Alumni Committee from 1960-1980. The Rocky Mountain Plant Food Association awarded him the 200 Bushel Per Acre Corn Producer Award in 1963. The Greeley Jaycees named him Weld County's Outstanding Young Farmer in 1967, and, as Colorado Young Farmer, he was awarded a trip to the national convention in Virginia. The Great Western Sugar Company presented him the High Ten Grower Award in 1969. He was an area distributor for Northrup King Seed Corn, and he assisted his children with farm-fresh sweet corn sales for several seasons. Harold and his son Dale formed Hal-Dale Cattle Company, a cow/calf operation. Felte also sold beef through his own brand, F Lazy H Beef.

A member of Colorado Farm Bureau, Felte served on the board as treasurer. He was named to the National Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board in 1986 and he continued until 1993. Felte enjoyed community service, and he received a North Colorado Medical Center Blood Bank Ten Gallon Donor Award. He was a lifetime member of the AHSGR, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. The Feltes also hosted several International Young Farmers representing France, Hungary, Denmark, South Africa, Switzerland, and Russia. In 2005, through the auspices of the Win-Rock Corporation, he had the privilege of lecturing to agriculture classes at Saratov State University in Russia through an interpreter. While there, he also fulfilled a lifelong dream, visiting his father's birthplace, a former German Colony named Grimm near the Volga River.

In 2012, Harold and Joleita moved to Flower Mound, TX, to be near their daughter's family, and he was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Flower Mound.

Harold is survived by his wife, Joleita; daughter, Janice (Frank) Sherwin of Flower Mound; grandchildren: JoHannah Tellinghuisen (Dane), Marya Sherwin, Llynea Sherwin Blair (Joe), and Roy Sherwin; sisters: Margery Brumley of Lincoln City, OR; Joyce (Wayne) Meech of Bellevue, WA., nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two sons, Dale Roger and Lane Douglas. Cremation, with interment beside his sons at Lakeview Cemetery, Windsor, CO.

The family greatly appreciates the devotion of many caregivers who assisted Harold and his family in recent months.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 A.M., Thursday, August 15, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 5500 Morriss Road, Flower Mound, TX 75028 .

Mark's Funeral Service in Windsor, CO, is in charge of arrangements for a second service on Monday, August 19, at 10:30 A.M. at First Presbyterian Church Fort Collins, 531 South College Ave, Fort Collins. For online condolences please go to www.marksfuneralservice.com.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Presbyterian Church, 5500 Morriss Road, Flower Mound, TX; or to Colorado State University Foundation, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO 80522-9800.