Robert Gottfred “Fred” Loose, passed away on October 20, 2021. Fred was born in Denver, CO and grew up in Fort Morgan. After graduating from Fort Morgan High School, he attended Otero Junior College and received his A.A. Degree. Fred then joined the Army where he was in cooking school prior to going to Jump school and became a paratrooper with the XVIII Airborne Corps. After leaving the Army, he graduated from CSU with a degree in Industrial Construction Management and then moved to Tempe, AZ where he obtained his Plumber Journeyman License.
Fred joined the Peace Corps in 1981 and went to Ecuador and worked with the Shuar Indian Federation installing water hand pumps and surveying. After the Peace Corps, he began his long and wonderful career of 22 years with the Bureau of Reclamation where he worked all over the US and had many different jobs.
He loved skydiving, having logged more than 700 jumps including parachuting into Hughes Stadium for CSU football games. He also had more than 35 static line jumps. His favorite was being the 77th person to base jump off El Capitan. His parachute didn’t fully open and he broke his ankle when he landed in a tree (but didn’t get caught). He loved hiking (hiked on 3 continents) and summited 25 14er’s and also scuba diving (over 100 dives). He was involved with numerous clubs: Fairway Woodworking club, Artistic Weavers club, Rockhound club, Dog club, Camera Guild and Sun City Hiking.
Fred was preceded in death by his parents, Robert B. and Ruth (George) Loose. He is survived by his sisters Patricia Frankenbery – Colorado and Roberta Lukas – California; niece Tracy Thompson and nephews Park Learned and Robert Learned; grand nieces and nephews: and of course his cherished and devoted dog Buddy. Buddy has found a new and loving home. Donations in lieu of flowers to a pet rescue charity important to Fred, “bestfriends.org”.
Fred’s advice – “Go out and live life to the fullest. We don’t know how long we’re going to be here, so live your dreams!”
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