Ranching was in Humbert Rees’ blood, but so was printer’s ink.
The longtime Garfield County rancher might have chosen a newspaper career if times had been different and he hadn’t been needed on his father’s ranch.
Rees, who died Nov. 19 at age 95, managed to work in some newspapering.
For 20 years he wrote a column, “This ‘n’ That” for the Glenwood (Springs) Post. He chronicled ranch life and life in the county when times were simpler.
He was on the board of the Frontier Historical Museum in Glenwood and loved history, so writing about it was his forte.
“He had an astonishing memory,” said his son Dean Rees, who teaches music in Rocky Ford and lives in La Junta. “He was like an encyclopedia.”
He read almost everything he could get his hands on. It figured. Rees earned a degree in English from the University of Denver.
Humbert Rees was a third-generation Colorado rancher and not only wrote about the early days but also gave lectures in the area.
“No one was a better storyteller than he was,” said his son Dave Rees of San Diego.
Reese wrote four books: Two were collections of his columns; one was about his father, Claude Rees; and another was about his own travels.
Claude Rees was a rancher and served in both houses of the Colorado General Assembly. Presumably, Humbert Rees learned his patience and ability to mediate from his dad, said Dave Rees. Claude Rees co-sponsored a bill to settle issues of land use and mediated between cattle and sheep ranchers.
“It was kind of horse diplomacy,” said Dave Rees, who was told his grandfather rode his horse back and forth between the sheep ranchers and cattle ranchers to settle grazing disputes.
Humbert Rees was active in his community and someone people respected, his sons said.
“The best advice he gave me was to treat people right,” Dean Rees said.
“He was a man of great perseverance,” Dave Rees said. “He never backed away from anything.”
But when asked to run for mayor of Glenwood Springs, Humbert Rees’ response was, “I’m not crazy enough to tackle that job,” said Dave Rees.
Humbert Rees was born July 29, 1910, in Rifle. He married Eleanor Frances Smith on Oct. 30, 1944. She died in 2000.
After retiring from ranching in 1959, Humbert Rees worked for the regional office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, helping ranchers get loans.
After retiring from that in 1978, he began his newspaper column.
In addition to his sons, he is survived by two grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
