John Angeli
John Richard Angeli was born Jan. 4, 1923, and died Dec. 18, 2019, surrounded by his family. The room was filled with sadness, but at the same time many loving, funny childhood stories were shared with John by his children and grandchildren.
John was born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, to Tyrolean immigrants Giovanni and Barbara Anna (Prarizzi Salvadori) Angeli. He was the sixth of eight children — five boys and three girls, with all five boys serving in the United States military.
John was joined in holy matrimony to Shirley Ruth (Nichols) Angeli on Aug. 23, 1946. To this union, six children were born: daughters Shirley Jean “Barb” Angeli and Kenneth Arnold, Mary and Barry Sabas, and Cindy and John Minatta; and sons, John W. and Eileen Angeli, Mark and Marlene Angeli, and Arthur and Lindy Angeli. Their grandchildren are Brent Arnold, Kevin Arnold, Aaron Arnold, Tessa Angeli, Bryanne Ostoyich-Akers, Ryan Ostoyich, Jessica Keith, Mililani Sabas, Kiana Barber, Keoni Sabas, Kaipo Sabas, Bijou Angeli, Hollie Angeli, Elisabeth Angeli, Ashley Angeli, Jordan Angeli, Darik Angeli, Brandon Minatta and Nathan Minatta. He was a great-grandfather to 15 and great-great-grandfather to five.
John attended the Hazleton Public School system and completed the eighth grade. As a child of an immigrant coal miner, one of 10 family members and a child during the Great Depression, life was very difficult. A few of his youthful memories involved collecting coal from the roadside to help heat the family house and selling the local newspaper on the corner.
At the age of 16, John joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and was assigned to a land survey group and shipped off to the mountains of West Virginia. In 1942, at the age of 19, John joined the United States Army, where he served for over three years before returning to civilian life. Due to a stagnant job market, he re-enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he served in the Pacific from 1947-53.
It was in the military where John was educated in his life’s passion for medicine and became a medical technologist, specializing in lab and X-ray. During this time, John was mentored by a lifelong friend, Dr. Ernie Mullinaux. It was this friendship that led John from Norfolk, Nebraska, to Julesburg in February 1957.
John was employed by the Sedgwick County Hospital in Julesburg from 1957-68, Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke from 1968-74 and McKee Medical Center in Loveland until he retired in 1999.
John’s passion for medicine endured during his retirement through his reading of medical publications. He also enjoyed stretching all the babies daily and debating with his children and grandchildren about the topic of the day, especially politics. In his retirement years, he had a large curiosity for how and why things operated the way they did and was always taking things apart and attempting to return them to working order.
He also connected with family in Italy and actually took a trip back to meet them. He stayed connected to them through the internet and loved discussing their family ties.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a contribution be made, in John’s name, to Folds of Honor, Wounded Warrior Foundation or the Gary Sinise Foundation.
Goes Funeral Care in Fort Collins was entrusted with the arrangements.