People

: Laird Key Smith; He was born in Grand Junction, Colorado to prominent water law attorney Silmon Smith and homemaker Lena B. Smith. He grew up at 1030 Chipeta Avenue and on an apple orchard in Fruitvale. He attended Grand Junction High School. After his graduation from high school, he attended Grand Junction Junior College for one year before transferring to Colorado College, where he majored in English. At Colorado College he was involved in Phi Gamma Delta, The Growler’s Club (pep) and worked on the Tiger campus newspaper. He married Doris Elaine Shock in 1940. They had two children. He worked as an FBI agent for five years before he and his wife moved to Grand Junction. The 1950 Census shows him working as a real estate broker. He was a loan officer for 25 years for the Valley Federal Savings and Loan and was also on the Board of Directors. He had a love of nature that was passed on from his father. He served on the board of Hilltop House, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Salvation Army. He was on the local advisory committee of the US Forest Service and was involved in St. Matthew’s Church. He was a member of the Grand Junction Lions Club and helped to charter the Fruita Lions Club. *Photograph from 1936 Colorado College yearbook.

: Lance Eriksen; A paleontologist and the former Curator of Paleontology for the Museums of Western Colorado (circa 1970-1985). In 1975, he discovered a species of Ceratosaurus, Ceratosaurus magnicornis, near Fruita, Colorado. Ceratosaurus magnicornis was adopted as the official dinosaur of Fruita. *Some information taken from "From the vault: Apatosaurus tail vertebrae discovered near Fruita" (Caitlin Row, Post Independent, 29 April 2015)

: Lane, Jordan M.; Student at Colorado Christian University, graduated May, 2016.

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