Wyeth W Houtz

Wyeth Walter Houtz, Curly, was born on August 13, 1914 in the small town of Naponee, Nebraska to Jennie (Daugherty) and William W. Houtz. He was the youngest of four boys. His twin brother, Wayne, often teased him about being the younger of the two.In 1927, when Wyeth was in 7th grade, the family moved to Superior, Nebraska where he finished junior and senior high school. After high school, he worked for his Dad’s local trucking firm, hauling dairy and produce in central Nebraska. He met his future wife Millie Mae Hudson in Superior. They were married May 17, 1941 in Goodland, KS.Wyeth was drafted into the United States Army December 26, 1942. Wyeth served in the European front during WVVII and attained the rank of Sergeant. Even though he rarely talked about the war, he was involved in Normandy and was at Omaha Beach.After being honorably discharged December 16, 1945, they moved to Colorado where Wyeth worked for his Uncle Dan at the Houtz Drug store in Limon, Colorado and his brother Don, in Wray, Colorado at the Don Houtz Drug store before attending Capitol College of Pharmacy in Denver, Colorado. He attained his pharmacy license in 1953 and passed the state board in both Nevada and Colorado.In 1959, he and his wife bought the Walgreen Agency Drug Store from Don Houtz in Wray, Colorado. During this time, two children were born, William Hudson and Margaret Ann. Wyeth enjoyed his career in pharmacy, made many friends and had a loyal customer base. There were many times he was called out after hours or on a Sunday afternoon to fill prescriptions. Even though these calls took him away from his family time, he was always willing to serve his customers.In August of 1977, the Houtzs’ sold the drug store to Ted Lambert and retired. In retirement he enjoyed time with his family, walking, caddying for his son on the golf course, traveling and gardening. In the last few years many afternoons were spent watching The Virginian, Bonanza and Gunsmoke and there was never anything better to watch than a good John Wayne movie. He also enjoyed watching sports. Any kind would do from basketball to baseball, football, golf, tennis and even the soccer World Cup and Olympic curling!Wray was home until the last couple of years when health issues made moving to Denver necessary. In Denver Wyeth and Millie lived with both their son and their daughter. Wyeth passed away at the Medical Center of Aurora the morning of June 25th at the age of 96.Wyeth was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers, J. Ivan, Don and Wayne. He is survived by Millie, his wife of 70 years, his two children, Bill (Michele Alpert) of Denver, Margaret Ann (Raymond Flake) of Centennial, sister- in-law, Honey Schaaf, brother-in-law, Harry Robinson, both of Superior, Nebraska, various nieces and nephews and step-grandchildren and step-greatgrandchildren.Services were held at the Spellman-Schmidt Mortuary in Wray, Colorado on June 29, 2011. Internment was in Wray at the Grandview Cemetery with full military honors. Memorials may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, 30 E. 33rd Street, New York, NY 10016. Spellman-Schmidt Funeral Home was in charge of arrangments.