All Eagle Valley Library District locations will be closed on Sunday, March 31. Regular library hours will resume Monday, April 1​.

Frank Austin Doll

Image of Frank Doll
Birth Date: April 6, 1921
Death Date: December 16, 2007
Age at Death: 86
Sex: M
Veteran Of: U.S. Army, World War II

Marriages

Imogene Nottingham Doll - April 19, 1948

at the ranch house, Avon, Colorado [another account says April 10, 1948]

Burial Details

Cemetery Name: Sunset View Cemetery
Cemetery Location: Eagle, Colorado

Obituaries

Eagle Valley Enterprise page 6 - December 27, 2007

FRANK DOLL: A TRUE HISTORIAN, by Kathy Heicher.
The ranks of the Eagle County Committee for Historical and Geographical Accuracy were greatly diminished last week, by the death of Frank DOLL, 86.
Actually, the Committee, which never once had a formal meeting, consisted mostly of myself and Frank, and a smattering of sympathetic locals. Our mission was to set people straight on local history, and to give local landmarks and geographic features the correct names.
Our collective pet peeve has always been the use of the ubiquitous "Vail Valley" title, when what people are actually referring to is the Eagle Valley. "Vail Valley" is admittedly a very effective marketing term that became prominent with the resort development of this country. That "Vail Valley" misnomer was the source of numerous phone calls between myself and Frank, where we would 'tsk-tsk' to each other. (For the record, this is the Eagle River Valley, named so because the Eagle River runs through it. Have you ever heard of Vail River? Ha! That's our point.)Years ago, when newspaper publisher, Cliff THOMPSON, changed the name of his spunky little publication from the "Avon-Beaver Creek Times" to the "Vail Valley Times," Frank and I put up a protest. Cliff, who also loves and respects local history, explained that the name change was a necessary business strategy. We accepted that...but we never liked it.
In recent years, Frank and I would telephone one another to 'tsk-tsk' over gaffes by fledging reporters who confused Gore Creek with the Eagle River; or to lament the folly of developers who wanted to name their projects at Wolcott or Dotsero something like "Vail Springs."
As a 30-year resident of the county, my obsession with local history was acquired. Frank was born into it. The DOLL family moved into Dotsero and the Gypsum Creek Valley at the turn of the last century. The DOLLs were always movers and shakers, and played a prominent role in shaping this community.
Frank DOLL was key to the creation of the Eagle County Historical Society, and the historical museum in Eagle. He, and few other persistent (and sometimes pushy) people, conceived the idea of moving an old dairy barn, intact, over to a site in a public park on the Eagle River. It was no small project.
He didn't stop when the barn and the artifacts in it were in place. When an opportunity came up to re-locate an old log structure that was once the Avon General Store, Frank, Allan NOTTINGHAM, and a few others stepped up. The logs were numbered, the building was dismantled, then it was rebuilt in the same park as the museum. Frank and his charming wife, Imogene, visited antique stores throughout the state purchasing items that would accurately re-create the era that the store originally operated in.
Frank had a knack for story-telling, and worked for many years at a posh hotel in Beaver Creek, sharing local history with tourists. Later, he joined a local writing group, and published a manuscript of his home-spun stories. It's available at the Avon and Eagle libraries.
He was absolutely the go-to person when I had a local history question. He could describe the garishly-decorated cowboy boots favored by Diamond Jack, the one-time Chicago gangster who once made Sweetwater his home. (In actuality, Diamond Jack was sort of a boorish thug.) When the Historical Society was offered ownership of a mysterious piece of old farming equipment, it was Frank who knew the metal hulk was a grain thresher. He could explain exactly how the complicated machine worked.
My most recent consultation with Frank was late last summer, when I was working on a history story about the valley's potato-growing days. Frank remembered the eras of that time clearly. He could describe how a potato digging machine worked, and the planting, weeding, and harvesting process. He knew only too well what hard work potato-growing was.
"Potato farming wasn't all it was cracked up to be," he observed, dryly.
This community will miss Frank's knowledge, and his forthright way of sharing it.
Frank DOLL was truly an asset to this valley.
That would be the Eagle Valley, of course.

Eagle Valley Enterprise page 10 - December 20, 2007

FRANK DOLL 1921-2007.
Frank DOLL, lifelong Eagle County resident, local historian and link to the area's ranching past, died Sunday. He was 86. A private memorial service is planned.
With local roots dating back to the late 1800s, DOLL and his family had lived through much of the history of the county. Doll's family settled in the county in 1887. He grew up on his family's sprawling ranch, which encompassed much of the gypsum Creek Valley. The family raised horses and cattle.
DOLL was a steadfast supporter of the Eagle River Fire Protection District, the Avon Library and the Eagle County Historical Society. He was also a volunteer for many years at the Shaw Cancer Center.
When DOLL married Imogene NOTTINGHAM in 1948, two pioneer ranching families merged. The Nottinghams had ranched Avon for decades. Later, DOLL worked for Vail Associates, for an insurance company and for the Eagle-Vail Golf Club.
He is survived by three daughters, Sharon DOLL of Gypsum, Kathleen DOLL of Edwards and Patricia MEDEIROS of Laramie, Wyo.; a brother, Morton DOLL of Eagle; two grandchildren, Matthew MEDEIROS of Loveland and Levi MEDEIROS of Laramie; and two great-grandchildren, Caleb and Emmy MEDEIROS of Loveland.

Rocky Mountain News page 7 - December 22, 2007

FRANK DOLL LIVED AND SHARED WILD WEST HISTORY OF EAGLE COUNTY, by Edward STONER.
Avon--Frank DOLL, lifelong Eagle County, resident, local historian and link to the area's ranching past, died Sunday. He was 86.
Mr. DOLL was well-known as a storyteller for the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, where he told tourists tales of the valley before it became ski country.
"He loved preserving the history of the county," said Louis MEDEIROS, his son-in-law. "He wanted to save it for future generations so the people would know this was a great country, a great land, before they all showed up. He was the conduit between then and now."
With local roots dating back to the late 1800s, Mr. DOLL and his family had lived through much of the history of the county.
"If you're going to tell stories about a place, you might as well tell the real things," said his daughter, Kathy DOLL.
Mr. DOLL's family settled in the county in 1887. He grew up on his family's sprawling ranch, which encompassed much of the Gypsum Creek Valley. The family raised horses and cattle.
"He was a real cowboy," said friend Steve JONES, who knew Mr. DOLL for 30 years. "He was just a hell of a guy."
Kathy DOLL quoted Aristotle to remember her father.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit," Kathy DOLL said. "That was my father to a T. Just every way that he approached life, the way he treated people, the way he treated a job that he did, everything."
Frank DOLL--often spotted around town in his signature cowboy hat--was a friend to many, from longtime local ranchers to young professionals to schoolchildren.
"He was always able to develop friendships easily with people," MEDEIROS said. "They saw the benefit immediately of his wisdom and his caring nature."
Friend Brad AUSTIN met Mr. DOLL as a vacationer at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, when Mr. DOLL was telling stories about Indians, the Wild West and the local settlers.
"The first thing that struck me was that he was genuine," Austin said. "Just a good fellow. When you meet some people, you immediately feel comfortable. You feel at home. He attempted to do that with everyone."
Friend Carol MULSON remembered how Mr. DOLL reached out to her after she was diagnosed with cancer several years ago. Mr. DOLL's own wife, Imogene, had died of cancer.
"He told me I needed to be at Ti Amo at 1 every Wednesday," where Mr. DOLL was already meeting with friends each week, MULSON said. "It was probably the nicest support system I have ever run into."
He was always very interested in news and politics, MULSON said.
"He knew an awful lot about a lot of different things," MULSON said. "He was very well read and engaged in the world around him."
And Mr. DOLL was a steadfast supporter of the Eagle River Fire Protection District, said MULSON, deputy chief for the agency.
Mr. DOLL also was a big supporter of the Avon Library, local art students and volunteered for many years at the Shaw Cancer Center.
He served in the Army for 25 years, including during World War II, when he helped liberated the Dachau concentration camp.He later served in the Korean war. He left the Army as a lieutenant colonel.
When Mr. DOLL married Imogene NOTTINGHAM in 1948, two pioneer ranching families merged. The NOTTINGHAMS has ranched Avon for decades.
Later, Mr. DOLL worked for Vail Associates, for an insurance company and for the Eagle-Vail Golf Club.
He also helped start the Eagle County Historical Society.
"He was absolutely a driving force for getting the history museum established in Eagle in the late 1980s," said Eagle resident Kathy Heicher, editor of the Eagle Valley Enterprise." He had a lot to do with collecting items for the museum."
Friend Cliff THOMPSON said Mr. DOLL knew more about the history of Eagle County than most people put together.
"Frank DOLL is a classic," Thompson said.
Friends and family said he was accepting of the enormous change he witnessed in his lifetime as Eagle County had transformed from a ranching, railroad and mining county to a resort mecca.
"He was excited about the changes he saw," MEDEIROS said.
Mr. DOLL was an outdoorsman, too--a hunting guide, a skier and a fly fisherman.
He also spent many years taking weather readings for the National Weather Service. Jim PRINGLE at the agency's Grand Junction office never met Mr. DOLL in person, but appreciated his keen weather watching.
"When I called him up, he was always helpful and ready to give me the information," PRINGLE said."He was so reliable, sending us weather on a daily basis. He was one of the more reliable people we have in western Colorado.

Rocky Mountain News page 7 - December 22, 2007

FRANK DOLL LIVED AND SHARED WILD WEST HISTORY OF EAGLE COUNTY, by Edward STONER.
Avon--Frank DOLL, lifelong Eagle County, resident, local historian and link to the area's ranching past, died Sunday. He was 86.
Mr. DOLL was well-known as a storyteller for the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, where he told tourists tales of the valley before it became ski country.
"He loved preserving the history of the county," said Louis MEDEIROS, his son-in-law. "He wanted to save it for future generations so the people would know this was a great country, a great land, before they all showed up. He was the conduit between then and now."
With local roots dating back to the late 1800s, Mr. DOLL and his family had lived through much of the history of the county.
"If you're going to tell stories about a place, you might as well tell the real things," said his daughter, Kathy DOLL.
Mr. DOLL's family settled in the county in 1887. He grew up on his family's sprawling ranch, which encompassed much of the Gypsum Creek Valley. The family raised horses and cattle.
"He was a real cowboy," said friend Steve JONES, who knew Mr. DOLL for 30 years. "He was just a hell of a guy."
Kathy DOLL quoted Aristotle to remember her father.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit," Kathy DOLL said. "That was my father to a T. Just every way that he approached life, the way he treated people, the way he treated a job that he did, everything."
Frank DOLL--often spotted around town in his signature cowboy hat--was a friend to many, from longtime local ranchers to young professionals to schoolchildren.
"He was always able to develop friendships easily with people," MEDEIROS said. "They saw the benefit immediately of his wisdom and his caring nature."
Friend Brad AUSTIN met Mr. DOLL as a vacationer at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, when Mr. DOLL was telling stories about Indians, the Wild West and the local settlers.
"The first thing that struck me was that he was genuine," Austin said. "Just a good fellow. When you meet some people, you immediately feel comfortable. You feel at home. He attempted to do that with everyone."
Friend Carol MULSON remembered how Mr. DOLL reached out to her after she was diagnosed with cancer several years ago. Mr. DOLL's own wife, Imogene, had died of cancer.
"He told me I needed to be at Ti Amo at 1 every Wednesday," where Mr. DOLL was already meeting with friends each week, MULSON said. "It was probably the nicest support system I have ever run into."
He was always very interested in news and politics, MULSON said.
"He knew an awful lot about a lot of different things," MULSON said. "He was very well read and engaged in the world around him."
And Mr. DOLL was a steadfast supporter of the Eagle River Fire Protection District, said MULSON, deputy chief for the agency.
Mr. DOLL also was a big supporter of the Avon Library, local art students and volunteered for many years at the Shaw Cancer Center.
He served in the Army for 25 years, including during World War II, when he helped liberated the Dachau concentration camp.He later served in the Korean war. He left the Army as a lieutenant colonel.
When Mr. DOLL married Imogene NOTTINGHAM in 1948, two pioneer ranching families merged. The NOTTINGHAMS has ranched Avon for decades.
Later, Mr. DOLL worked for Vail Associates, for an insurance company and for the Eagle-Vail Golf Club.
He also helped start the Eagle County Historical Society.
"He was absolutely a driving force for getting the history museum established in Eagle in the late 1980s," said Eagle resident Kathy Heicher, editor of the Eagle Valley Enterprise." He had a lot to do with collecting items for the museum."
Friend Cliff THOMPSON said Mr. DOLL knew more about the history of Eagle County than most people put together.
"Frank DOLL is a classic," Thompson said.
Friends and family said he was accepting of the enormous change he witnessed in his lifetime as Eagle County had transformed from a ranching, railroad and mining county to a resort mecca.
"He was excited about the changes he saw," MEDEIROS said.
Mr. DOLL was an outdoorsman, too--a hunting guide, a skier and a fly fisherman.
He also spent many years taking weather readings for the National Weather Service. Jim PRINGLE at the agency's Grand Junction office never met Mr. DOLL in person, but appreciated his keen weather watching.
"When I called him up, he was always helpful and ready to give me the information," PRINGLE said."He was so reliable, sending us weather on a daily basis. He was one of the more reliable people we have in western Colorado.
"He's going to be greatly missed, not just for his personality, but the data he sent us," PRINGLE said. "He was a trained spotter and took his volunteer job very seriously. He was a great guy, and I'm very sad to hear he's passed on."
He is survived by three daughters, Sharon DOLL, of Gypsum, Kathleen DOLL, of Edwards, and Patricia MEDEIROS, of Laramie; a brother, Morton DOLL of Eagle; two grandchildren, Matthew MEDEIROS, of Loveland, and Levi MEDEIROS, of Laramie; and two great-grandchildren, Caleb and Emmy MEDEIROS, of Loveland.

Vail Daily page 1 - December 19, 2007

VAIL VALLEY'S STORYTELLER DIES. Frank DOLL, whose family first came to Gypsum area in the late 1800s, linked county's ranching past to its skiing present.
p.A2: LONG LIFE IN VALLEY WON DOLL STORYTELLING JOB. At fireside, DOLL told guests tales of local pioneers, miners and ski-resort builders, by Shirley WELCH.
Beaver Creek -- When Frank DOLL turned 70, he figured it was time to retire. Instead, he began another career as the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek storyteller.
Frank was a natural for the job. Having grown up in the Eagle Valley with his grandfather helping to settle the Gypsum Valley in the late 1880s, Frank was born and raised there. He eventually married Imogene Nottingham, whose father owned much of the land that sits at the base of Beaver Creek Resort.
When he retired from the Army in 1968 after serving 25 years, Frank returned to the Eagle Valley and worked at various jobs, including 11 years with the Eagle-Vail Golf Course and many years with Vail Resorts in purchasing.
When Imogene and Frank married, there was no such thing as skiing on Vail or Beaver Creek Mountain, but Frank was fully aware of Pete SEIBERT and Earl EATON and their efforts to start a ski area in the Eagle Valley. In fact, Earl and Pete had explored Beaver Creek as far back as 1957, finding undulating pine slopes, gentle meadows and heart-stopping steep drops. The shape of the valley was perfect for a ski area.
However, the base of the mountain was three miles from U.S. Highway 6, and a crusty rancher by the name of Willis NOTTINGHAM--who happened to be Imogene's uncle--owned the land and had no intention of selling it. Vail, on the other hand, had only a few small ranches at its base, and those owners were agreeable to selling.
While Vail grew into a world-famous ski resort, Beaver Creek was not forgotten. With Colorado's hopes of landing the 1976 Winter Olympics, Vail Associated turned its eye on Beaver Creek and to the jeweled Birds of Prey runs, which started with a moderate pitch and nose-dived into dropoffs almost as steep as skyscrapers. Those runs would be the ultimate test for downhill skiers.
SEIBERT returned year after year to that tobacco-chewing rancher, Willis NOTTINGHAM, and finally was able to budge the gentlemen into selling. As Frank tells it, "Imogene's uncle had grown tired of the development moving down valley. He raised sheep and had constant problems with marauding dogs. So one day a bunch of men from Vail Associates knocked at his door and asked, 'Willis, how much do you want for the ranch?' Willis named a price and the men nodded agreeably.
"Imogene and I never did find out how much Willis got for the place. The newspaper said the deal included a trade of property and other considerations."
Thus, in 1971, the ski area and village of Beaver Creek was born. From Frank and Imogene's home along the banks of the Eagle River--adjacent to the original Nottingham ranch house and close to the entrance to Beaver Creek--Frank watched the ski area develop. The groundbreaking came in 1977, and in 1980 the resort opened for business. Some years later, the Park Hyatt shined as the resort's crown-jewel hotel, a gathering spot for upscale visitors, royalty, ski instructors and movie stars.
No resume submitted
Steve DWYER, manager of the Park Hyatt, decided he needed a storyteller to add ambiance to the hotel experience.Ads were placed nationally, and eventually the resumes submitted were whittled down to six applicants. At last a storyteller was chosen, and this gentleman lasted only about two weeks. For DWYER, the search was on once again.
Around this time, Frank had retired and was devoting a lot of his time to the Eagle County Historical Society. He helped move the Chambers Barn to the historical site in Eagle, as well as the
old post office at Beaver Creek. Today, you can mosey inside the old post office and see what it might have looked like 50 years ago.
While working with the Historical Society, one of his co-workers asked Frank if he had seen the ad for the storyteller at the Park Hyatt Hotel. He hadn't.
Out of curiosity, Frank called and was put through to a woman who sounded young enough to be his granddaughter. He inquired about the job.
"Have you submitted a resume," he was asked.
"No, and I'm not going to," Frank replied.
And that was the end of the conversation.
You're my storyteller
Several months passed, and while Frank worried about raising funds for the Historical Society, it was decided he should go to the Park Hyatt and speak to DWYER about a donation. Frank called DWYER's secretary to arrange for an appointment. The secretary told Frank that DWYER was a busy man, but she could schedule exactly 10 minutes of the following Thursday for Frank to meet the manager.
"That would be dandy," Frank replied, deciding he had better be on time for his meeting with DWYER.
On the day of the appointment, Frank arrived in DWYER's office five minutes ahead of time. Feeling out of his element in the giant hotel that catered to upscale tourists, Frank was ushered into DWYER's office, which was bigger than Frank's living room. The men shook hands, and Frank settled into a giant leather chair across from a monstrous walnut desk. Trying to relax, Frank told DWYER about his work with the Historical Society.
"Beaver Creek is an important part of the county, and we need to preserve its history," he told DWYER. Several times, Frank checked his watch to see that he had already run over his allotted 10 minutes. However, DWYER seemed in no hurry to finish the meeting and continued to ask Frank questions.
"Your family settled Gypsum?" DWYER inquired.
"They sure did. My grandfather's brother Sam wandered into the valley after the Civil War and met Jake BORAH, the mountain man who guided Teddy Roosevelt on a two-week hunt. My grandfather came to Colorado, joined Sam,and the two homesteaded a ranch that eventually comprised 1,600 acres in Gypsum."
"That's incredible," Steve said. "What else?"
Frank told Steve about his family and threw in a few colorful stories about cattle, horses and prospecting. Several times Frank checked his watch.
"So what do you think?" Frank asked.
Sitting back in his chair, Steve smiled at Frank.
"Why the big grin?" Frank said. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You said everything right," Steve said. "I think you are my hotel storyteller."
Frank protested that he knew nothing about being a storyteller, and DWYER reiterated that Frank had the gift of storytelling; he had just proved that with his hour of telling stories. By the time the two men parted, Frank had been in Steve's office for longer than two hours and had come away with a generous donation to the Historical Society.
By the fire pit
For 17 years, Frank was the official storyteller of the Park Hyatt where, he said, he met wonderful people. As Frank told it, it was not unusual to see a woman in a floor-length fur coat next to a man in a ski sweater next to a couple in white robes headed for the spa next to a family with small children next to a tan-faced ski instructor charming a beauty in skin-tight ski pants.
All types of people mingled in the lobby of the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, and Frank felt at home with all of them.
From the outdoor fire pit, Frank spun yarns braided with the wool of truth about Indians, pioneers, stockmen, horses, miners and ski-area developers.

Vail Daily page A3 - December 19, 2007

DOLLS HAVE DEEP ROOTS IN VALLEY.
1887: The DOLL family leaves Ohio and sets out for Colorado. The family settles in Gypsum.
1900: The Doll Ranch encompasses 1,600 acres in the Gypsum Valley.
April 6, 1921: Frank DOLL is born in Denver.
1930s: Doll Ranch grows to encompass 6,800 acres.
Fall 1938: Frank DOLL enters the Colorado School of Mines. By October, his brother, Morton, becomes seriously ill.
Winter 1938: DOLL quits school and moves with his family to La Jolla, Calif., so Morton can receive medical treatment.
1939: The DOLL family moves back to Colorado. DOLL enrolls in Colorado A&M in Fort Collins and joins the ROTC.
1943: DOLL joins the Army and is deployed to Ireland to help the Allied Forces in World War II.
April 29,1945: DOLL, along with the 42nd Division, helps liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany.
June 1945: DOLL returns to the U.S. He is later stationed in Texas.
October 1946: World War II is officially over. DOLL is dischargedinto active Army Reserve and returns to Colorado.

Vail Daily page A3 - December 19, 2007

DOLLS HAVE DEEP ROOTS IN VALLEY.
1887: The DOLL family leaves Ohio and sets out for Colorado. The family settles in Gypsum.
1900: The Doll Ranch encompasses 1,600 acres in the Gypsum Valley.
April 6, 1921: Frank DOLL is born in Denver.
1930s: Doll Ranch grows to encompass 6,800 acres.
Fall 1938: Frank DOLL enters the Colorado School of Mines. By October, his brother, Morton, becomes seriously ill.
Winter 1938: DOLL quits school and moves with his family to La Jolla, Calif., so Morton can receive medical treatment.
1939: The DOLL family moves back to Colorado. DOLL enrolls in Colorado A&M in Fort Collins and joins the ROTC.
1943: DOLL joins the Army and is deployed to Ireland to help the Allied Forces in World War II.
April 29,1945: DOLL, along with the 42nd Division, helps liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany.
June 1945: DOLL returns to the U.S. He is later stationed in Texas.
October 1946: World War II is officially over. DOLL is discharged into active Army Reserve and returns to Colorado.
April 10, 1948: DOLL marries Imogene NOTTINGHAM. The couple have four daughters together.
1950: DOLL is called up from the reserves and sent to Fort Riley, Kan.
1951: DOLL is sent to Germany as part of the 109th FABN.
1954: The Dolls return to Fort Collins.
1958: DOLL is sent to Korea.
1959: DOLL returns home.
May 1, 1968: Lt. Col. Frank DOLL retires from the U.S. Army.
June 1, 1968: DOLL and family return to Colorado for good.
1970: Frank and other local residents create the Eagle County Historical Society.
Early 1970s: Frank goes to work for Vail Associates as the company's purchasing agent.
1975: Vall Associates lays off DOLL.
1976: DOLL quits smoking and drinking.
1978: DOLL works for the Eagle-Vail Golf Course.
1989: DOLL leaves his job with the Eagle-Vail Golf Course. The Hyatt Hotel in Beaver Creek hires Frank DOLL to be the hotel's storyteller.
1992: Frank DOLL retires from the Eagle County Historical Society.
1998: Frank and Imogene celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
2001: Imogene DOLL dies.
Dec. 16, 2007: Frank DOLL dies at age 86.
Source: "The Life and Times of Frank Doll," by Shirley WELCH.

Vail Daily page 2 - December 27, 2007

SUMMER POLITICS [Year in Review]

July: Local writer Shirley WELCH wrote an extensive biography of Avon's Frank DOLL, who's pretty much at the top of the list of our favorite people. With someone like Frank, who died Dec. 16, you can feel free to write a lot, and WELCH did, chronicling DOLL's early days living up Gypsum Creek, his military service during World War II, and his life and times in Avon, including how he and Allan NOTTINGHAM got Eagle County Road and Bridge Department trucks to haul the logs of an old barn from the north part of the county to Eagle.
You can still find Frank's life story at www.vaildaily.com. Just type "Frank Doll" into the search box at the top of our home page.

Vail Daily - December 20, 2007

FRANK DOLL, 1921-2007
Frank Austin DOLL, an Eagle County native, died Sunday at his home in Avon. He was 86.
Mr. DOLL, like his parents and grandparents, grew up ranching in the Gypsum area, where the demanding work environment had him doing chores morning and night, before and after school, and working at a cow camp in the Flat Tops when he was just 12.
During his life here, he saw the county transform itself from a quiet agricultural area to an industrial tourism mecca with a brace of world class resorts.
He took pains to make sure that the local history was not swept aside, and he was the driving force in the formation of the Eagle County Historical Society, a group he remained active with until the final months of his life. It wasn't just managerial direction.It often required hands-on work.
In the late '80s he, Allan Nottingham and others even helped to move and reconstruct several historic buildings to the grounds of the county's historical museum in Eagle.
His life attracted the attention of local author Shirley WELCH who chronicled Mr. Doll's life in a recent book.
Many visitors knew the cowboy-hatted Mr. DOLL as a teller of genuine stories at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Beaver Creek, and many locals as a selfless giver of time and support. Still others, like local newspaper editors, were often politely reminded of facts when there was inaccurate reporting.
His meticulous filing could produce historical snippets of information that even Google couldn't rival.
Active in Community
After attending Eagle Valley High School, Mr. DOLL attended the Colorado School of Mines and later transferred to Colorado A&M (now CSU), where he earned degrees in business and agriculture.
DOLL spent 25 years in the military, seeing active duty during World War II. He was an aerial artillery observer during action at the Faliase Gap after the Allied invasion at Normandy, when the Allies attempted to encircle the retreating Germans.
Later in the war he helped liberate Dachau, the notorious Nazi death and prison camp north of Munich. Later he was given duty tours in Italy and Korea.
He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel when he left the Army to move back to Eagle County with his growing family to a ranch-style home on the banks of the Eagle River in Avon.
When he returned here, he worked for a number of companies including then Vail Associates and at the Eagle-Vail Golf Course and he even worked for a local insurance agency. He also managed the now defunct family-dominated Meadow Mountain Ski area north of Minturn.
But Mr. DOLL gave freely of his time, skill and effort. He served a s chairman of the Avon Planning and Zoning Commission in the 1980s and helped the town secure a separated grade crossing of the then active ground-level railroad tracks which crossed Avon Road, the main access to Beaver Creek.
Mr. DOLL was also active in supporting the Eagle County Library District, the Shaw Cancer Center, Habitat for Humanity and supporting his friends with regular visits. He and a circle of close friends had an unbreakable routine of lunching at Ti Amo in Eagle-Vail on Wednesdays and coffee at the Turntable Fridays, that you could set your clock by.
He was a weather watcher for a National Weather Service, making and reporting daily temperature and precipitation readings from a small weather station in his yard in Avon.
When he had spare time he liked to fly fish, ski and golf and he was a voracious reader. His office downstairs in his home was packed with books and meticulously kept files.
Service is Jan. 5
He married Imogene NOTTINGHAM on April 19, 1948, and they had four daughters, three of whom--Sharon DOLL, of Gypsum, Kathy DOLL, of Edwards and Tricia MEDEIROS of Laramie, Wyo.--survive him. Imogene DOLL died in 2001.
Mr. DOLL is survived by his brother Morton DOLL, of Gypsum; his daughters; grandsons Levi MEDEIROS, of Laramie, Wyo. and Matthew MEDEIROS, of Loveland; one great-grandson and a great-granddaughter.
Mr. DOLL was born April 6, 1921, to Frank and Helen Herres DOLL in Denver.
A memorial service will be held Jan. 5 from noon until 4 p.m. at the 4 Eagle Ranch in Wolcott. Mr. DOLL will be buried at the Eagle Cemetery not far from the Gypsum Valley he called home.

Vail Trail page 4 - December 28, 2007

LOSING A LOCAL ICON.
A piece of the valley's history died last week, with the passing of 86-year-old Frank Austin DOLL.
DOLL became known as Vail's storyteller and the driving force behind the Eagle County Historical Society. He chronicled the changing face of the county, an evolution he witnessed firsthand from childhood, growing up on a ranch in Gypsum.
DOLL was also know for supporting such organizations as the Eagle County Library District, the Shaw Cancer Center and Habitat for Humanity.
A memorial service will be held Jan. 5 from noon to 4 p.m. at the 4 Eagle Ranch in Wolcott.

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