Jack Bramble, the first law officer in Wheat Ridge history, died June 22. Bramble, 89, had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and lived at a care center.
He was one of the original city officials when the town incorporated in 1969. Louise Turner, another early Wheat Ridge founder, recalled “when we had nine elected officials, no money or income, and Jack Bramble was the police department.”
Besides Turner, who was clerk, the other officials included six City Council members, a mayor and treasurer.
She said Bramble “arranged for 26 officers from the county sheriff’s office” to work one shift a week for Wheat Ridge so the city would have law enforcement.
Bramble was interim police chief from 1969 until 1970, serving without pay.
During a long employment with Coors brewery, where he started on the production line and moved up to management, Bramble was involved with law enforcement.
He loved motorcycles and trained members of the El Jebel motorcycle team. Later, he was asked to train Jefferson County deputies in motorcycle use and did the same for the Colorado State Patrol.
After retiring from Coors in 1978, Jack Bramble and his wife, Ann, moved to Grand Lake, where he was town marshal for a short time.
Jack Bramble was born in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 19, 1920, and moved to Bailey with his family when he was in grade school.
He left school after the eighth grade and began working to help support his family. He sold newspapers on the streets and worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps, sending his earnings home. He also worked with a blacksmith in Arvada and then served in the Army in England, France and Berlin.
He married Ann Swanson on May 26, 1944.
They met when they both worked at Lakeside Amusement Park. He ran the carousel, and she took tickets.
The Brambles loved to dance and were regulars at both Lakeside and the Trocadero Ballroom at Elitch Gardens.
At Bramble’s service, Albert Galli played Big Band-era numbers on the saxophone and clarinet, ending with the theme song from “The Lawrence Welk Show,” said Bramble’s daughter Judy Peterson of Golden.
“He taught me to dance to that number,” Peterson said.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Bramble is survived by another daughter, Joan Schulz of Ware, Mass.; a son, Larry Bramble of Putney, Vt.; four grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
