Donald Eugene Lengel

Donald Eugene Lengel, age 91, of Hugo, Colorado, passed away Wednesday, August 9, 2023, with family by his side at the Lincoln Health Hospital in Hugo, Colorado.

On a cold and windy day, March 28, 1932, Daisy Lengel gave birth to Donald Eugene Lengel on his granddad Knapp’s Farm, seven miles north of McDonald, Kansas.  Two weeks later, Don and his mother returned to Colorado, where his father, George, had stayed to farm on the south fork of the Republican River and Landsman Creek.  Don worked on ranches and farms until the day after he graduated from Idalia High School when a game warden found him on his trapline and suggested he come to work for the Colorado Game and Fish, ushering him into a lifelong career.

Don worked for approximately ten months for the Colorado Game and Fish at Bonny Dam until the United States Army drafted him to serve his country.  He did so proudly as a Military Policeman with the 142nd Company and 558 MPs at the 8th Army Headquarters in Yeongdeungpo, Chungcheong, Seoul, South Korea.  The U.S. Army honorably discharged Don eighteen months later, on November 30, 1954.

When he returned from the army, Don went back to work for the State of Colorado at the Wray Fish Hatchery in Wray, Colorado, for about a year.  During his time in Wray, he met the love of his life, Maxine Crist.  They were married in Burlington, Colorado, in 1956 and recently celebrated 67 blissful years together.  Three children were born from this union: Rosalie Sue, Joie Ann, and Russell Dean.

Don later transferred to the Fish Hatchery in Walden, Colorado, where daughters Sue and Joie were born. After about three years, the state decided to close the Walden Hatchery. Don was then promoted to Wildlife Conservation Officer and given a district at Walden, where he spent six years before moving to Hugo for the next nine years. From there, Don moved his family to Trinidad, where they lived for the next three years. Finally, Don returned to Hugo, retiring in 1988 after serving the State of Colorado for 33 ½ years.

Don had many hobbies: gunsmithing, carving gun stocks, silversmithing, taxidermy, collecting Indian pottery and artifacts, hunting, fishing, and trapping.

Don is preceded in death by his parents, stepfather, and in-laws.

Those left to celebrate Don’s life are his wife, Maxine Lengel of Hugo; children, Sue (Bob) Dutro of Karval, Joie (Fred) Poss of Hugo, and Russell (Corinne) Lengel of Limon; 7 grandchildren, Curt (Mindy) Dutro of Karval, Collin Dutro of Karval, Eric (Rhianna) Poss of Hugo, Scott (Emily) Poss of Hugo, Lynn (Brayden) Connour of Torrington, Wyoming, Hilary (Tyler) Neff of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Madison Lengel of Castle Rock, Colorado; 8 great-grandchildren, Beau, Blake, and Della Dutro, Cy and Charli Poss, Jax and Jace Poss, and Brynn Connour, and a host of extended family members and lifelong friends.

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