Guestbook

Bonnie Botham Memorial talk:

Leslie Harry Botham was a Christmas present to his family in December of 1948, his Christmas Eve delivery was a lot to live up to and he did very well. Les was the oldest of three post war kids whose parents moved from British Columbia to the United States for the opportunity to thrive. The whole family became U. S. citizens in 1963. Les was a Scout reaching the rank of Eagle in his teens. He had a paper route, mowed lawns and watched out for his siblings while Mom and Dad worked. He always contributed to the family and watched his pennies!

His passion in school was Cross Country running. His team were award winning champs! Les began his higher education at the local Community College and transferred to UC Berkley as a sophomore. Les enjoyed engineering and focused on water resources as his major.

Les had to juggle school, work to pay for it, and the peer pressure of the turbulent late 60s. The Berkley campus was notorious for protests and idealism. Les navigated all of that with passion for each aspect of his early adulthood. Les did draw a low lottery number as the US was conscripting teens for the Vietnam conflict. He applied and was granted a student deferment and when he graduated the federal draft was over. Les always honored all our servicemen and women as he knew someone went in his place.

Shortly after graduation Les moved to the Denver area where his folks had moved for a better job. He joined a young engineering company named for its founder, Leonard Rice Consulting Water Engineers. Les worked and got his PE certification in Colorado and several other states. Over the course of 40 years at LRCWE he held many positions, including cheerleading and boosting morale. He was very proud to be one of the owners as Lee Rice prepared to sell the company to the employees.

Les and Bonnie were married in Englewood Colorado in January of 1974. They had two boys and spent over 30 years living and working a mini urban farm in Wheat Ridge. Ten Fold Farm had chickens, goats, rabbits, dogs, cats, honeybees and a big garden, not all at the same time.

In 2006 Les asked Bonnie to support a family rental real estate business, and for the next 10 years they both worked hard at their jobs and at their "side-gig".  The dementia was identified in 2016 so the business had run its course.  Les supported selling the properties and the market was advantageous. Leslie would have identified the many blessings we all have enjoyed in our lives, thank you for being a friend.