Frank West Bering Jr.
Marriages
Gretchen Wardwell Swan
Obituaries
The Daily Sentinel page 5A - July 24, 2022
He was born on the 6th
of May 1936 in Chicago,
Illinois, the son of Frank
West Bering (1877-1965)
and Mabel Mehaffie
(aka) Joan Winters
(1907-1990). He grew
up with his beloved sister, Nancy Ann, in the historic
downtown Chicago hotels managed and owned by
his father (the Ambassador West, East, and Sherman
House). He attended Choate Rosemary Hall, CT, and
Cornell University, NY. After college he went to Fort
Lauderdale, FL, where he became a scuba diving guide.
He served in the Air National Guard in Denver, CO, and
then moved to Aspen and opened the Cloud 9 Restaurant
in 1962 at the top of the Highlands Ski Area where he
met and fell in love with his wife, Gretchen Wardwell
Swan. Frank served on the ski patrol in the winters and
enjoyed hiking and mountain climbing in the summers.
After moving off the mountain he opened the Paragon
Restaurant and Bar in downtown Aspen in 1966 with
Bruce Lefavor. Frank and Gretchen built a new home
and started a family in the valley of Little Woody
Creek where they developed lifelong friendships. Frank
loved running rivers with family and friends down the
Yampa, Green, San Juan, and Colorado Rivers. In 1973
he moved to Grand Junction, CO, to open The Winery
Restaurant and in 1982 he built GB Gladstones. His
life’s work centered on serving others and making sure
they were happy. His own happiness could best be seen
while serving “apps” on Friday afternoons on the patio
of Gladstones. Frank served on the boards of the Grand
Junction Symphony, United Way and the Visitor and
Convention Bureau as well as the Canyonlands Field
Institute and the State Board of Colorado Travel and
Tourism Authority. He served a term as the Director
of the Colorado Restaurant Association, and he was
inducted into the Colorado Restaurant Hall of Fame
in 1995. Frank’s love of the mountains continued with
several trips to the Himalayas in Nepal. He also enjoyed
sea kayaking and spending time on the water with
friends in the San Juan Islands, the Sea of Cortez, and
San Carlos where he took on the nickname “Paco”.
Frank is survived by his wife, Gretchen Swan Bering;
his children, Joan Harvey and Vitus Bering; and his
grandchildren, Nathaniel Bering, Elizabeth Bering,
Fletcher Kennedy, and Grace Kennedy.
Contributions in honor of Frank may be made to
the following: Living Rivers, PO Box 466, Moab, UT
84532 (LivingRivers.org) and Compassion & Choices,
101 SW Madison St. #8009, Portland, OR 97207
(compassionandchoices.org). As we celebrate his life,
let us go forward remembering his mantra “Happiness
is the Meaning of Life.”
