Bobby Leon Swander

Bobby Leon Swander,  age 86, passed away, Tuesday, April 11^th 2023.

Born July 9th,  1936, in Cunningham, Kansas, he was the son of the late Jesse and Rita Swander and brother to Bonnie, Lou, and Flo. 

Bob graduated in 1954 from Kingman High School in Kansas. Shortly after, he would travel with a custom harvest company working from Kansas to Nebraska where he would work for his soon-to-be Father-in-law, Eugene Wilson and meet his wife of 64 years, Sharon.

 In 1959, Bob and Sharon moved to Denver, Colorado and had two sons; Jesse and Stephen. In 1964 they moved to Boulder, Colorado where Bob owned Residential DryWall Company, and they welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Deborah. 

It was in Boulder, Colorado where Bob would start off-road racing in Jeeps and custom made vehicles. Bob would race in the Baja 500  two years in a row (‘69; ‘70)

In 1971, the Swander family would move to Grand Junction, Colorado as Bob was recruited by Tom Kolacny to finish building the Tiara Rado Golf Course, which only consisted of six holes at the time. Bob  was instrumental in the naming of the course as well as the original back nine.

Bob is survived by: His Sister Flo; Daughter Debbie and her spouse James Stacey; Son Jesse and his spouse Debbie; Son Stephen and his spouse Elaine ; 10 Grandchildren and 16 Great-Grandchildren. Most of the Swander family still resides in Grand Junction, Colorado where Bob and Sharon planted their roots.

Memorial Services were held on Tuesday, April 11^th 2023 at 11AM at Brown’s Cremation and Funeral Services at 904 N 7th St, Grand Junction, CO 81501