Willard Arnold Couch, Jr (Dubby)

February 13, 2023

I have so many fond memories of my brother growing up.  He was not real outgoing but he was a very loyal friend to those that he was close to. He was always there for me and taught me how to fight all the neighborhood bully's. 

My sister, Jill, was 2 years younger than Dubby and when she was little she was super extroverted and Dubby was in total 'awe' of her!  Dubby was 6 years older than me and when I was born I was pretty mild and I think that is why he felt like he was always my protector. He loved me to pieces and I felt it. 

I think I was a calming influence for him and we could quietly hangout together in peace. He would also play games with me when I was bored and would watch me as I tried to entertain the world. He was my cheerleader and I knew that I could never do anything wrong in his eyes.

My brother was calm and a very quiet child and, unfortunately, he was physically abused by my father. My Mom would intervene so it never was extreme but having your father hit or punch you even once leaves lasting damage.

I think that because my Dad was not very nice to my brother, my Mom overcompensated (because she felt so bad for my brother because of my dads bad behavior towards him) and she didn't make him do much around the house or even yard work. I'm afraid in a lot of ways that this didn't give him the motivation to reach his full potential.

Sadly, this did not help my brother but in many ways it made him a bit lazy.  He never had ownership of accomplishing things to make him feel proud of himself. I believe without work or sports it doesn't teach a child to take responsibility for themselves and regrettably he never reached his full potential of being who he could be (but where his animals were concerned that was the one area where he did take charge).  

Also, because he never had a 'father figure' to love, guide and teach him there were many things he never learned how to do and never pursued in his life. He was an average student but he was actually very, very smart; he read about things that interested him and he was amazing in math.  There was just no one to see his potential and to encourage and push him to do something with it.

Dubby loved animals! Everywhere we lived he was able to have a dog or cats. This is one area of his life where he would take complete charge in.  Here he is with some of the many animals he had and loved!

He had many individual friends who remained lifetime friends; the Misgens (Tom) were one of the family's he would spend much time with!

Dubby absolutely loved and adored his nieces and nephews.  He would dote on them and play with them for hours! In return they, of course, thought he hung the moon.  He never had a lot of money but he would bring them little things or make games out of things around the house. The unconditional love he received from these little ones were priceless.

I was always proud to introduce him as my brother and friend.  Dubby was a good person.  He was nice and kind and would give you the shirt off his back. He was thoughtful and welcomed all my friends and treated them like they were his little sisters, too; in turn they treated him like their big brother!

His life changed for the better when he met and fell in love with Louise.  She had 2 children, Chuck and DC (Denise). This was the family that he had waited for all his life and they loved and cared deeply for him.  I think him and Louise were together for over 20 years and this was truly the happiest time of his life. When Chuck married Courtney and they had 2 little girls I think he knew his life was complete.  They loved him unconditionally and brought more joy into his life than he had ever had before.

These are only a few of the many pictures of Dub's family. He could talk forever about his two adorable granddaughters!

Whenever I was in Colorado I would try to hook up with Dubby and caught up on his life!

Dubby passed away from Congestive Heart Failure. His health had been going down hill, especially the last 10 years, when he moved from Colorado to Oklahoma. He struggled with asthma, diabetes, enlarged prostate, allergies and a few other things.  He was a smoker pretty much since HS and it finally took its toll.  

While going through his belongings, Jill and I found hundreds of letters and cards from Louise's family,  from Mom, Jill, her 2 boys, me and my family.  He was loved by many and will be missed by all.

Willard A. Couch

5946 S. Willow Way

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

303-220-5054

Babies R Us- Highlands Ranch, CO 10/01/06- 04/01/09

Stock Associate

Unload incoming trucks, and stock merchandise on sales floor

Canyon Casino -  Blackhawk, CO           08/01/05 – 03/13/06

Soft Count Team Member

      •    Counted the paper money pulled from the casino floor

Colorado Air Care ­­-  Highlands Ranch, CO 10/16/04 – 07/28/05

Lane Technician

     •   Processed cars for emission testing  

McDonalds – Littleton, CO 09/31/03 - 12/10/03

Cook / Kitchen

Prepared for dinner rush.  Focus was on burger preparation

Jazz Alley Casino – Blackhawk, CO 12/01/98 - 02/28/02

Cash Drop Team Member/Trainer

Prepared over 200 slot machines for cash/coin counting

Transported and counted over $80,000 per night

Pulled and transported coin buckets from machines

Weighed and wrapped coins using scales and various coin wrapping machines

Pulled and transported bill validators from machines

Prepared bills for counting

Counted bills using various GFR machines

 *Laid off due to casino closure

Douglas County Schools – Highlands Ranch, CO 01/01/98 – 10/31/98

Janitor

Vacuumed, dusted, entire school including classrooms, hallways and bathrooms

Maintained cleanliness of rooms and bathrooms

Sam’s Club – Highlands Ranch, CO 07/01/97 – 11/30/97

Forklift / Stocker

Transported pallets of merchandise by forklift to various departments within the store.

Stocked merchandise by hand

Heritage Wine & Liquor – Englewood, CO 10/01/96 – 07/01/97 

   and 03/01/94 – 02/01/96

Sales Associate

Advised customers on wine, beer and liquor choices for specific foods, parties and occasions

Assisted in product placement and stocking

Developed a regular clientele which boosted sales for the company

AMCON Distributing – Commerce City, CO 02/01/96 – 10/01/96 

Beer distributor

Unloaded and stocked incoming shipments of beer totaling up to 24 pallets per shipment

Prepared and organized outgoing routed shipments for daily deliveries to over 100+ clients per day

*Left due to company closure

Other relevant experience 

Wax and strip flooring

Power scrubber operator 

Carpet and floor high speed buffer

Experience with cleaning chemicals

2023 Valentines Dance

We had a wonderful time at the Valentines Dance with our "Silver Slippers" friends.  When we got back from our mission, a little over a year ago, Paula and Dan Ruesch (our dancing partners for the last 15 years) invited us to join this group.  We love it and have enjoyed meeting many new people who also love to get together for incredible dinners, socializing and, of course, dancing!

 I appreciate Billy taking me dancing; even though it's not his favorite thing to do he still does it for me at least 3 or 4 times a year ~ he really is my SwEEtHeaRT 💖💖💖!