Theodore Leslie "Ted" Caughman

Theodore Leslie "Ted" Caughman, age 83, passed away Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at his home in Hotchkiss, Colorado.

He was born August 19, 1942, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado to Leslie and Alma (Coller) Caughman.

Married Dona Johns, June 11, 1962, in Glenwood Springs.

Ted was raised and attended schools in Buena Vista, Colorado. At age 17, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. He was honorably discharged on November 3, 1961. After leaving the military, he worked as a cook in Glenwood Springs. In 1965, his lifelong friend Fidel Ortiz helped him gain employment at the Mid-Continent Coal Mine in Redstone. In 1971, he and his family moved to Beckley, West Virginia, so he could attend the MSHA Academy, where he received the training needed to become a Federal coal mine inspector. His career as an inspector began in 1972, and he reached the level of Senior Special Investigator. He retired in 1994.

Ted loved bowling, camping, fishing, hunting, entering his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda in car shows, watching his beloved Broncos, TV crime dramas, and time with his family.

Survived by his wife Dona, Hotchkiss, son Lee, Hotchkiss, daughter Lynda (Phil) Divelbess, Clifton, Colorado, two sisters, Beverly Caughman, Pahrump, Nevada, Susie (Brian) Whitmore, Alamogordo, New Mexico, brother Kirk (Peggy) Spears, Boulder, Colorado, four grandchildren, Billie, Paige, Travis, and Candice, five great-grandchildren, four nephews, two nieces, and numerous great-nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, Walter "Sonny" Caughman, sisters-in-law, Judy Hoskins, Janie Daniels, brother-in-law, Morris Johns, and niece, Ashlie Myers.

A graveside service will be at 1:00pm on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at Rosebud Cemetery, Glenwood Springs.

Arrangements entrusted to Taylor's Funeral Home, Delta, Colorado.

If anyone wishes to donate to a charity in Ted's honor, he would've hoped it to be the American Heart Association.