Wells Hobgood

Wells Sheppard Hobgood, “Shep”, 74,  died December 25, 2019 following a hard fought battle with cancer.

He was born on November 2, 1945 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Florence Alva Ginn and Charles Tazwell Hobgood. Shep and his sister, Nancy, grew up in the Ohio Valley with middle school years spent in Colorado as their father’s job required a lot of travel. The family made their way back East and Shep graduated High School in Mt. Lebenon, PA in the class of 1964. After spending two years flying helicopters in the United States Army, he used the GI Bill to acquire a BA degree in Anthropology from Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.

During college, Shep met Linda Duncan and they married after graduation.  They have been divorced for many years, but remained good friends as they parented three children together and welcomed seven grandchildren to the family. Shep and Linda raised Ben Hobgood, Josh Hobgood, and Becky Hobgood Close. Shep’s most cherished days were spent with his wife and three children in the high country, flying airplanes and gliders, kayaking, and skiing. Shep instilled his adventurous spirit and love for the outdoors in his kids, so much so that all seven of Shep’s grandchildren have been on many backpacking trips, climbing adventures, ski trips, and mountain bike rides. Ben, Josh and Shep went on annual hunting trips that were often the highlight of his year and will no doubt live on as the grandchildren grow. Family was always an important aspect to Shep’s life.

Shep had a magnetic personality and loved entertaining with his quirky sense of humor. He always worked the room and would know more about individuals in a gathering than any other person who attended. He could have taught lessons on being an extrovert. Shep was a curious person with a keen intellect, leading him to be a bit of a renaissance man with a knack for carrying on entertaining, in-depth conversations on many subjects. Shep’s open-mindedness, curiosity, and spiritualty made for a varied social life in his later years, volunteering for environmental groups, singing in the Episcopal church choir, being a docent at a science museum, having coffee with friends that had different political ideals, exploring genealogy and voraciously reading, as always.

Shep is preceded in death by his parents and survived by his ex-wife Linda Gayle Duncan Hobgood, Fruita, CO;  his sister, Nancy Michelle Hobgood Gutschick, Glen Ellyn, IL; daughter, Rebecca (Devin) Close, Salt Lake City, UT; son, Ben (Brenda) Hobgood, Conifer, CO, and son Josh (Bree) Hobgood, Colorado Springs, CO.  Grand children include Logan and Laila Close, Amelia and Cavan Hobgood, and Owen, Wyatt and Molly Hobgood.

Shep will be dearly missed as he moves on to whatever adventure he has planned next and his memory will live on through his family as they continue raising their children and grandchildren with the same spirit.

Shep requested a private family service.

In lieu of flowers, Shep has asked that donations be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The link is provided below.

https://donate.splcenter.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=463