Quentin Tucker Blakeslee, age 61, was happily sightseeing in Switzerland with four close friends and traveling companions as recently as May 2024. Gazing at the majestic Matterhorn, boating on Lake Geneva, taking a walking tour of chocolate shops, and being enthralled by the magnificent Lauterbrunnen Valley were all highlights of this trip of a lifetime.
Quentin died on August 6, 2024, of glioblastoma, just 10 weeks after walking below Switzerland’s famous Reichenbach Falls where Sherlock Homes and his archenemy Moriarty had their epic, fictional battle exactly 133 years earlier (Quentin was an avid reader).
Quentin died peacefully in his sleep at the Amberwood Post Care facility in Denver under the care of Agape Hospice.
He was born to Rev. Charles and Ann Blakeslee in New Orleans on November 6, 1962. He was the youngest sibling in the family and is survived by Merritt (78) who resides in Maine; Chris (74) of Centennial; Joel of Evergreen (72); and Edith of Thornton (70), all in Colorado.
When Quentin was almost two years old the family moved from Metairie, Louisiana to a home in the Rocky Mountains overlooking Evergreen, Colorado. It was here that Quentin’s outdoor adventures began, from exploring the pine/fir forests to climbing the local high point, Indian Rock. Evergreen was the community in which his father Chuck was rector of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration for many years.
Quentin attended Bergen Elementary, Evergreen Jr. High, Colorado Academy for one year, and graduated from Evergreen High School in June of 1981. By this time Quentin was working, going downhill skiing, and hiking the high trails of Colorado’s majestic mountains.
Quentin had various jobs during high school and college including one summer when he and his friend Paul sold plates, dinner sets, and flatware door-to-door across the windy state of Wyoming.
He started college at Ft. Lewis College in beautiful Durango. After three semesters he transferred to the University of Colorado at Boulder where he studied Journalism and Marketing.
Quentin moved on to what was then Metropolitan State College in Denver where he graduated in May 1988 with a degree in English Literature and Marketing.
Quentin was an avid reader, a music enthusiast, and a life-long learner. He was a lover of crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, and various other challenging puzzles and problem solving activities. He also enjoyed the theater, concerts, movies, lectures, and parties, and celebrating with his friends.
He started his business career working in the banking industry in the Denver area. He started in the mail room at Mellon in downtown Denver and over the next 25 years he worked his way up to Documents Management and Facilities Management. He worked for Mellon Bank Corp. (1989 – 1994), JP Morgan Chase (1994 – 2001), Aurora Bank (2002 – 2012), and finally for CoBank (2013 – 2023).
At the same time, he participated in a variety of volunteer projects including recording books for the blind and helping to run Project Valentine serving cancer patients.
He also started climbing Colorado’s 14ers. Over many years he climbed all 54 of the Colorado 14ers, many of them more than once. With that behind him, he started traveling the United States exploring the National Parks and climbing 33 of the U. S. state high points including Mt. Whitney in California and Mt. Rainier in Washington. He also traveled in Europe, South America, and Mexico, where he climbed Iztaccihuatl and other major volcanoes.
Quentin, who never married, enjoyed a wide network of close friends with whom he pursued his different avocations. These friends greatly appreciated his strong and loyal friendship. His close friendships, many going back to high school and college and his early years at Mellon, included his work colleagues, his book club friends, his hiking/climbing friends, and his neighbor friends. But the core of his life were his parents, Rev. Charles and Ann Blakeslee and his four siblings.
In November 2022, Quentin was diagnosed with glioblastoma and in the next fifteen months he underwent two major brain surgeries, and chemo and radiation therapy. He faced this disease with the same courage and tenacity with which he climbed mountains and, only 10 to 12 weeks before his death he had been exploring the Swiss Alps with four of his closest friends.
He is greatly missed by his family and friends alike.
Quentin was cremated and a Celebration of Life will be held in early October at Olinger’s Chapel Hill Mortuary in Centennial. The following day his ashes will be inurned in the columbarium at the Church of the Transfiguration in Evergreen, Colorado, Reverend George Berlin presiding.
In lieu of flowers, please consider…
A donation to the Glioblastoma Foundation in Quentin’s name
https://glioblastomafoundation.org
A donation to The Nature Conservancy in Quentin’s name
A donation to the charity of your choice in Quentin’s name
Planting a tree in Quentin’s name
A donation to the GoFundMe effort established to purchase a memorial bench along a trail near
his home: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-honor-quentins-love-for-the-outdoors
Or, doing an act of kindness for someone in need in Quentin’s
name.
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