Robert Angelo Minuti

Robert (Bob to some) Angelo Minuti passed away on October 8, 2025, just a few days shy of his 83rd birthday. His death was due to a cerebral hemorrhage, and his family is grateful he went relatively quickly and didn't have to suffer.

Angelo was born in Chicago, went to DePaul Academy HS, The University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana where he mostly diddled around while becoming a lifelong fan of the fighting Illini. He transferred to Roosevelt University in Chicago where he decided to hunker down and graduated with a bachelor's degree. He joined the Naval Reserve where he really enjoyed servicing planes at the Great Lakes Naval base during his duty there. (He even got to guide a plane into the hangar once, clipping off the tips of both wings.) After that, he worked at Ryerson Steel in Chicago, and in 1979 he emigrated to Colorado to work for Petro-Lewis in Denver with his family.

His marriage ended before Petro-Lewis went belly up. During a hiatus from his subsequent, on-again/off-again relationship with Kate who later became his wife of 28 years (but together mostly for 40 years counting the hiatus years), he moved to Minturn to work in his friend's two stores there and in Vail, set off on a journey in his camper and traveled to Phoenix and up the west coast to Seattle, a brave move considering he went alone testing the waters of "just being," while trying to grow spiritually. Kate joined him in Seattle, and they traveled together to Banff and Calgary, then home again, and had a good time that was mostly squabble free. They decided to get married in 1997 since they were tired of doing the chicken dance they'd been doing over the years and felt they might as well just "be" together. He went to work for University Hospital as a data analyst and ran the statewide mammogram program until he retired.

Since he loved working with his hands and was good at fixing stuff, he started a handyman service, "Angelo's Home Maintenance and Repair" where he had a loyal following of clients who needed smaller jobs done. That gave him the confidence to embark on a successful remodel of his home with a friend, and made major improvements to ensure he and Kate would be well taken care of in their dotage.

It's hard to sum up Angelo's life in just a few paragraphs. Ang was an intense, often stubborn Italian who had beautiful eyes, loved to play "bball" with his friends, generous with family and friends but a penny pincher with himself, a dedicated recycler and coupon clipper extraordinaire. He was a devoted Green Bay Packers fan who proudly owned one share of stock, a volunteer at the CO Talking Book Library fixing recording machines for the blind, loved all animals except the bunnies in his yard, was a man of strong opinions who often ignored facts, had no fear of heights which proved unfortunate when he fell off two roofs, never met a sweet he didn't like, and felt the opposite for vegetables, particularly broccoli. In his lifetime, he was lucky to have visited Bolivia, Mexico, Cuba, Iceland, Alaska, rafted in Denali Park, hiked down the Grand Canyon, did a vision quest in Utah where he learned to repel, back home in Colorado ziplining and skiing. He particularly cherished his trips to Italy, once with his father when he was 8, and in 2010 visiting his welcoming family once again in Marginone, Italy.

The last few years of Ang's life were especially challenging. After a stroke in 2017 that left him with aphasia, followed by a diagnosis of dementia in 2020, he was lucky to have his mobility for some time. He continued his role as the family patriarch, enjoyed his daily stock perusal, going out for family birthday dinners, particularly sushi, and flipping off Trump to the TV on the nightly news, an activity he enjoyed until the very end. As Angelo's dementia grew worse, he and Kate had many blessings and continued support from family and friends. There were days of patience, anger, love, impatience, frustration, humor always, and no question they would face the times to come together.

He was loved so much by his family who hopes he has finally found the peace he sought throughout his life.

Angelo is survived by his wife, Kate, sister, Lois Pausch, his children Chris (and daughter-in-law, Tammy), Julia Staples (and son-in-law, Jal) stepdaughter, Sara Van Wyhe (and son-in-law Mike Bader), grandchildren, Mike, Matt and Makaela Minuti, and especially Jim Conley, whose special friendship since they were 7 years old endured throughout Ang's lifetime.

A celebration of his life will be held on November 15 from 11-2 at Heritage Lakewood at Belmar Park, 801 S. Yarrow Street. Angelo hated dressing up so please dress casually.