Death Notice
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Death Notice
Junction patriarch Files dies at age 107
Homesteader built West Slope's 1st shopping center, Teller Arms
Loyd Files was a longtime major benefactor to the Grand Junction area.STORY TOOLS
Email this story | Print By Ellen Miller, Special to the News
August 11, 2006
GRAND JUNCTION - Loyd Files, a homesteader, businessman, philanthropist and one of the state's oldest residents, died this week at the Commons, an assisted-living facility. He was 107.
Mr. Files built the Western Slope's first shopping center, Teller Arms in Grand Junction, and its first drive-in theater, in addition to running a wrecking yard.
He was a major benefactor to a host of Grand Junction institutions and to the Brigham Young University School of Law in Provo, Utah.
His name is on the Museum of the West's research library in Grand Junction.
He also funded scholarships at Mesa State College and at BYU.
"Not only did he donate a lot of money to the research library, we have hours and hours of tape with his own stories as part of the oral history project, including how he built his cabin on the ranch on Glade Park," said Dave Fishell, a Museum of the West historian. "You don't hear that in person any more.
"His impact on the museum can't be understated, and he helped the town get going."
Mr. Files was "by far" the oldest male patient seen in recent years at Hospice of Western Colorado, which supervised his care in recent years, its medical director said Thursday.
"It is very, very rare for a man who reaches 107," said Dr. Amy Mohler, a geriatric physician. "He is certainly the oldest man we've had. He was a bright man in an old body."
Mr. Files was born Jan. 23, 1899, in Winfield, Kan., and moved to Lamar with his parents by covered wagon in 1914.
He came to Grand Junction in the 1920s by Model T Ford and homesteaded on Glade Park. During the Depression, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps building trails and roads in the Colorado National Monument.
He later operated a wrecking yard, drive-in theater and the Teller Arms shopping center. Mr. Files was mocked at the time for building the center so far from town, Fishell said.
The facility, still operating today, now lies well within the city limits of Grand Junction.
Mr. Files funded and built low-income housing for the elderly and was a major donor to Hilltop Community Resources' Files Center for Handicapped Children and Disabled People and to Family Health West in Fruita.
He was proud of Files Little League Park and the Grand Mesa Little League. Mr. Files was a 32nd-Degree Mason and a Shriner.
His wife of 66 years, Cordelia, died in 1990.
Mr. Files is survived by two daughters, Janis Files Miller and Joanne Bell, both of Grand Junction; nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.
His funeral is scheduled at noon Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' West Stake Center in Grand Junction. Martin Mortuary is handling arrangements.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Museum of the West or Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado, both in Grand Junction
Homesteader built West Slope's 1st shopping center, Teller Arms
Loyd Files was a longtime major benefactor to the Grand Junction area.STORY TOOLS
Email this story | Print By Ellen Miller, Special to the News
August 11, 2006
GRAND JUNCTION - Loyd Files, a homesteader, businessman, philanthropist and one of the state's oldest residents, died this week at the Commons, an assisted-living facility. He was 107.
Mr. Files built the Western Slope's first shopping center, Teller Arms in Grand Junction, and its first drive-in theater, in addition to running a wrecking yard.
He was a major benefactor to a host of Grand Junction institutions and to the Brigham Young University School of Law in Provo, Utah.
His name is on the Museum of the West's research library in Grand Junction.
He also funded scholarships at Mesa State College and at BYU.
"Not only did he donate a lot of money to the research library, we have hours and hours of tape with his own stories as part of the oral history project, including how he built his cabin on the ranch on Glade Park," said Dave Fishell, a Museum of the West historian. "You don't hear that in person any more.
"His impact on the museum can't be understated, and he helped the town get going."
Mr. Files was "by far" the oldest male patient seen in recent years at Hospice of Western Colorado, which supervised his care in recent years, its medical director said Thursday.
"It is very, very rare for a man who reaches 107," said Dr. Amy Mohler, a geriatric physician. "He is certainly the oldest man we've had. He was a bright man in an old body."
Mr. Files was born Jan. 23, 1899, in Winfield, Kan., and moved to Lamar with his parents by covered wagon in 1914.
He came to Grand Junction in the 1920s by Model T Ford and homesteaded on Glade Park. During the Depression, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps building trails and roads in the Colorado National Monument.
He later operated a wrecking yard, drive-in theater and the Teller Arms shopping center. Mr. Files was mocked at the time for building the center so far from town, Fishell said.
The facility, still operating today, now lies well within the city limits of Grand Junction.
Mr. Files funded and built low-income housing for the elderly and was a major donor to Hilltop Community Resources' Files Center for Handicapped Children and Disabled People and to Family Health West in Fruita.
He was proud of Files Little League Park and the Grand Mesa Little League. Mr. Files was a 32nd-Degree Mason and a Shriner.
His wife of 66 years, Cordelia, died in 1990.
Mr. Files is survived by two daughters, Janis Files Miller and Joanne Bell, both of Grand Junction; nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.
His funeral is scheduled at noon Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' West Stake Center in Grand Junction. Martin Mortuary is handling arrangements.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Museum of the West or Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado, both in Grand Junction