DeanGus

Dean and Jane Gustafson
2649 S. Pagosa Ct.
Aurora, CO 80013
Phone: 303.751.7260
Fax: 303.422.7900
email: [email protected]
email: [email protected]

Dean's 9th Birthday (& not in Wisconsin) - that would be Dean with the cuffed pants.

Dean Marvin Gustafson was born in Ashland, WI, although the birth certificate indicates Port Wing, March 17, 1955. Dean lived and went to school in Port Wing until June of 1963 when his family made a move to Tucson, AZ. Moving from Port Wing to Tucson in June was a major change in climate. The summer of 1963 is an unforgettable memory. Alan and Dean were quickly taken under "Buzzin Cuzzin" Bob's wing (Krafthefer). Bob and Dorie would come over in the evenings and swim in the apratment pool. Bob had the ability to empty half the pool in one dive (we later found out it was called a "belly flop"). Bob would take Alan and Dean to his softball games at night and then later out with the team for burgers. We also would sit on Bob's roof and watch the local drive-in movie theater. As kids we hardly noticed the temperatures each day could bring. Our dad, Marvin, toiled away in the heat constructing houses and eating salt tablets. Finally, in August it was announced that it was "too damn hot" and we are moving back to Port Wing. So we loaded up the "Comet" again and headed out. A stop to visit the Bagstads (OB and Mayme) in Denver started a turn of events that led to our making Denver home.

The fall of 1963 Dean and Alan started school in Denver and quickly made many friends. In the meantime, Marvin took over OB's part-time job at the church and also secured a job with a major home builder in Denver, Hutchinson Homes. In 1964, we purchased a home in southeast Denver where our Mom, (Donna and Lee) still lives today.

Growing up, Dean enjoyed and played baseball, raced motorcycles, sailboated, waterskied, fished and hunted amoung many other hobbies. In 1966 Marvin decided to buy a service station in southeast Denver. This was a great opportunity for Alan and Dean to work while going through high school and learn how to keep a car running.

After high school graduation in 1973, Dean and two buddies took a motorcycle trip from Denver to northern California, down the coast to San Diego and through the desert to Tucson. At Tucson, we visited with Grandma Ida, Ange, Terry and Bev. The last part of the journey we visited the Grand Canyon and southern Colorado before returning home.

In February of 1974, Alan, Dean and another buddy Dennis left on a motorcycle trip to Mazatlan, Mexico. We came back at the end of March. Dean turned nineteen on that trip and added about twenty years of experience to his life. On that trip, Mexico became a favorite spot and we return as often as possible.

Now the scary part. Upon returning to Denver from Mexico, Dean settled in working for Hutchinson Homes and going to the Unviersity of Colorado at night. In 1977 he met the lovely Jane Anderson and within a year was a married man. In 1978 Dean and Jane bought a house on the day they decided to get engaged. The wild man was officially domesticated. Jane is originally from South Dakota and has been a great wife for 22 years and mother of Trevor. Her claim to fame is to have survived the flood that wiped out Rapid City in 1972. Jane spent the night clinging to a tree in the middle of the raging river. She lost a best friend and a mother of another friend to the flood. In 1973 after high school graduation, Jane moved to Denver to live with a sister and attend airline school. Although our paths crossed many times, we did not meet until 1977.

Dean and Jane at a Baseball game in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Trevor, Jane, and Dean

Lee's 69th Birthday (Aug. 2000) (Mom's husband)
L-R: Heather, Lee, Shannon, & Trevor
(Heataher & Shannon are Alan's twins)

After a vacataion at Lake Havasu, AZ in the spring of 1983, Dean and Jane returned home, Jane pregnant with Trevor. This is important since we tried everything in the book to have children. Trevor has been the center of our lives since the day he was born. Trevor has excelled at everything he attempts. He does not know the words, "can't, no, or quit." Trevor, since the age of five, played baseball, football, and basketball until this year, as a Junior in hgigh school, when he gave up basketball to concentrate on baseball conditioning. His little league baseball career had him traveling all over the coutnry playing only top teams. This past summer (2000) he was selected to the team to represent Colorado at the Junior Olympic tryouts for USA Baseball in Tucson. With two seasons of baseball to go and one more year of football in his high school career, he has college and pro scouts talking to him. He has also held the academic class rank of No. 1 since entering high school (class of 500). The point here is, it is not son-like-father. It should be a fun year as he will need to make some serious college decisions. Marvin died before Trevor was born but we are sure some of the baseball genes were passed along. Trevor also enjoys the company of his two large German Shepards provide, Madame Belle Fourche and Apex Valley's Miss Kaysa.

Okay, to finish up, Jane has worked for a worldwide engineering firm for the last 20-odd years with a couple of sabbaticals. Dean decided he hated using the outhouse ont he below zero temperature mornings that construction provided, so he used his education to move to an engineering firm. After nine years with one company he was lured away to another engineering company where he has been an owner for the last two years. In our spare time, we spend as much time as possible at our cabin located int he mountains with a small stream running through the property.

It has been said Dean is never a t a loss for words, so proven! This reunion is one the whole family is looking forward to. It is such a great idea by Leslie and Suzy to put together this website. We hope in the future that the site stay up and running and add tidbits and news as it develops, exchange Christmas greetings, congratulations and unfortuneately condolences. There is too much work and valuable information on this website to let it go. So for those of you that have not signed up to attend the reunion, please do! Life is too short to pass up an opportunity like this. We may not know each other but we all have one common bond, "We are family!" See you in July!

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