A long-time seasonal resident of the Wet Mountain Valley
Martha Michel recently completed walking 10,000 miles in memory of her husband
who died from Alzheimer’s in 1998.
In 1961, Dr. Lester and Martha Michel bought seven acres
near the Alpine Lodge southwest of Westcliffe. They were living in Colorado Springs and
spent summers at the cabin they built. Their daughter Jan Michel now lives at
the family homestead full time.
Martha Michel has always been active and energetic. When
her late husband, Dr. Lester Michel, became a resident of the Namasté Alzheimer Care
Center in Colorado Springs, she found herself walking
around the peaceful and scenic pond located on the property, located near the Broadmoor Hotel. This past October, the 88-year old
great-grandmother logged her 10,000th mile around the small lake at the care
center.
Because of the Alzheimer’s, Lester had lost his ability
to speak, and the walks were a way for Martha and him to be together. One time,
as they walked around the pond, Lester stopped and said, “I want to hold you.”
Martha picked up his limp arms and put them around her. “It was like stabbing
me in the heart,” she said. Another time, he was fidgeting in the lounge chair
at the care center and Martha asked if he’d like her to sit on his lap, and he
blurted out, “I could think of nothing more pleasant.”
Prior to his death, Martha and Lester were married 56
years and 20 days. As a way to remember him, she kept walking.
Before being stricken
with Alzheimer’s, Lester taught chemistry at Colorado
College in Colorado Springs. Earlier, he worked as a
chemist on the Manhattan Project developing the atomic bomb during WWII. They
moved to Colorado after the war and Lester
completed his degree at the University
of Colorado in Boulder. Both he and Martha had completed
their bachelor’s degrees at Purdue
University; he in
chemistry and she in education. They both lived in Indiana, and both their parents were
Methodist ministers. They met while attending a Christian college.
Martha was born in China when her father was a
missionary there. They moved to Indiana
when she was one and a half. Chinese was her first language. While
in China,
she had a nurse called an “amah” who only spoke Chinese. When they moved
to the states, she had to learn English. Her older brother was 12 by the time
they moved and spoke fluent Chinese his whole life.
Lester, who grew up in Indiana,
went to a church conference in Colorado
when he was 12 and fell in love with the mountains. He suffered from allergies,
so after working on the Manhattan project in New York, he didn’t particularly care to go back to the Midwest to live, so they came to the mountains. They
discovered Westcliffe from a college friend, Bill Fisher, who had a cabin here.
Lester climbed all 54 of the “fourteeners”
in Colorado.
He climbed Horn Peak in the Sangre de Cristos every month of the year. In winter, he went most of
the way using snowshoes, then stuck them in the snow and clambered the rest of
the way to the top. Sometimes he’d leave in the morning and be home for lunch,
said Martha. Lester and a friend, Bill Arnold, walked the whole crest of the
Sangres over Bill’s summer vacations one week at a time for three summers. As
far as she knows, they are the only ones to have done that. Lester was working
on the top 100 peaks in Colorado
and had climbed 90 of them.
After Lester died, the family had a service near their
home up Cheyenne Canyon
in Colorado Springs
where Martha scattered some of Lester’s ashes. His climbing buddies then took
the remaining ashes to the last ten of the top 100 peaks in Colorado.
Lester was president of the Colorado Mountain Club for
three years. “Lester was a very gifted man,” said Martha. He built their house
in Ivywild after he got home from teaching all day. A
very precise man, he would lay a level on every brick on the house. Sometimes
he would work all night and go teach the next day. He also practiced glass
blowing as a hobby.
Martha worked as a substitute teacher in Colorado Springs while
raising four children. Her degree was in home economics and physical education.
She also played golf and tennis when she was young. In high school, she
competed in the high, long and triple jump and took first place in the spring
track meet and first place in the citywide competition. She also worked as a
babysitter and at a shoe store where she made $5 a week. The bus was 10 cents,
and it was an hour each way to high school. Martha graduated at age 16. She
said she had $40 in her pocket and a $100 student loan to start college.
The whole family hiked. Martha climbed 32 of the “fourteeners.” Walking around the pond at the care center
was thoughtful and pleasant. Five times around equaled one mile, so she went
around 15 times to go three miles. She wore a golf counter. Sometimes she
whistled to the birds, and they would answer. Having been an outdoor enthusiast
all her life, she was familiar with their songs and would mimic them. When she
was young, she used to imitate the canaries her mother raised.
Martha remains active even though an old ankle injury
has slowed her down lately. She plays Wii golf and
participates in the Silver Sneakers fitness program. Last summer, she hiked a
few miles on the Rainbow trail. “I try to be sensible. I’m not crazy,” she
chuckled. She has 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Michel’s son, Dr. Jim
Michel, now of California, was the recipient
of funds for medical school which he paid back over three years as a doctor at
the Custer County clinic in the early 70’s. Jan is
involved with the American Legion and is Junior Vice
Commander with Custer County Search and Rescue and the local democratic group.
Jan personally has adopted the roadway at Macy and Willow Lanes where she
cleans up trash. She has climbed five of the “fourteeners.”
“We’ve always had a positive outlook on life,” said Jan.
– Jacque
Keller
