Ernest Lee Cock
Marriages
Doris Lucille Romine
Elmira Olive (Melendy) Hopkins - 1964
Obituaries
Steamboat Pilot - August 6, 1997
Vail Daily - August 5, 1997
OCK, Ernest Lee
Ernest Lee COCK of McCoy died at home July 27. He was 83.
Mr. COCK was born Sept. 13, 1913, in the mountains northwest of Burns, along Sunnyside Creek, the youngest of 10 children born to Walter COCK and Dora Annabelle KING COCK. He lived with his family in the Sunnyside Creek area, where he attended school. He married Doris Lucille ROMINE and they had three children. They moved to Colorado Springs, where Ernie worked for Aircraft Mechanics. He was also with the Auxiliary Military Police.
In the summer of 1943, he and his three children moved back to the Burns area, where he worked for the Benton Land and Cattle Co. for several years. In 1950, he began working for Eagle County as road overseer on the Burns Colorado River Road. He and his children lived at the upper Colorado River Maintenance housing. He worked for Eagle County for 33 years.
In 1964, he married Elmira Olive MELENDY HOPKINS and they continued living there until Ernie retired in 1983. They moved to McCoy, where the family still lives.
Ernie was a great outdoorsman, and he enjoyed all outdoor activities, including hunting and fishing. In his early years, he packed fish, by horseback, in milk can and stocked the upper Flat Tops Wilderness area lakes.
He was also an excellent mechanic and would never turn away a person who needed either a vehicle repaired or a flat tire fixed. He was a caring man and comfortable being home and helping anyone who stopped by. He touched the lives of many and was loved by all who knew him.
He is survived by his wife, Mira; his children, Virginia Lucille, Robert Lee and James Earl, all of Denver; three stepchildren, Myrtle MAE of Saratoga, Wyo., Richard LANE of Elko, Nev., and Wilen ERNEST of Salida; a brother Henry George of Denver; a sister, Dorothy of Grand Junction; 24 grandchildren; 42 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.[5 Aug. 1997, Vail Daily]
