69-year-old killed in Colorado wildfire may have been trying to save family memories
Robert Sharpe had made it his life’s ambition to collect as much of his family’s history as possible. His passion may have led to his death.
The 69-year-old resident of Boulder, Colorado, died in the devastating Marshall Fire, the Boulder County Coroner’s Office reported on Friday, Jan. 7.
Sharpe’s family thinks he remained at his home as the flames approached, trying to protect his collection of family memories, The Denver Post reported.
“He had a life-time ambition to gather as much Sharpe memorabilia as he could find and over the years had amassed thousands of pages of documents that he kept in safes, file cabinets, and boxes,” his family wrote in an obituary, KMGH reported.
“I knew as soon as I understood the fire had passed over his property he would not have fled,” Milton Sharpe, Robert’s younger brother, told The Denver Post. “I told one of my brothers, ‘They will find him dead in his driveway with a hose in his hand.’”
Fueled by high winds, the Marshall Fire burned more than 6,000 acres and 1,000 homes around Boulder, The Washington Post reported. A search for a 91-year-old woman missing in Superior, Colorado, after the blaze continues.
Along with his passion for family history, Sharpe also was a naturalist and activist for children’s rights, a statement released by his family to Colorado’s Office of Emergency Services said.
A construction worker for many years, he leaves three brothers, one sister, and many nieces and nephews, the statement said.
“Dear brother, this is such a catastrophic, unbelievably sad end to your story!” Milton Sharpe wrote in a eulogy, The Washington Post reported. “I still can’t wrap my head around it. You had many verses left to write, Robert.”
The family requested donations to the Boulder County Wildfire Fund in Sharpe’s memory.
This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 1:09 PM with the headline "69-year-old killed in Colorado wildfire may have been trying to save family memories."