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Beloved Kremmling newspaper columnist Inell Harvey dies at age of 92

Will Bublitz
Sky-Hi Daily News
File photo
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Kremmling and western Grand County lost a true friend and advocate this week with the death of local newspaper columnist Inell Harvey.

Harvey, 92, died early Wednesday morning at St. Anthony’s Central Hospital in Denver. Her son and daughter, Rick and Janifer, were at her bedside.

Memorial services have not yet been announced by her family.



According to reports, Harvey developed a lung infection while trying to recover from injuries she suffered in a traffic accident last week. Those injuries included broken ribs and a bruised artery.

Harvey suffered her injuries in a rollover accident on Thursday afternoon, May 30, in Gore Canyon west of Kremmling. She was transported by Flight For Life helicopter to St. Anthony’s Central Hospital in Denver for treatment.



According to the local office of the Colorado State Patrol, the accident occurred at Milepost 12.2 on the Trough Road west of Kremmling about 4:20 p.m. Thursday.

Harvey’s vehicle was descending a downhill section of the roadway that makes a sharp curve to the right when she apparently lost control. Her vehicle left the roadway, rolled twice and came to rest on its wheels after traveling 269 feet off the Trough Road.

Rescuers arriving at the scene found Harvey conscious and reportedly in “good spirits.” She had been expected to recover, but her health made a turn for the worse Monday.

Harvey was locally famous for being a newspaper columnist, full-time volunteer, exercise fanatic, teacher, poet and former Heeney Tick Queen. She had been a regular columnist for the Middle Park Times and the Sky-Hi Daily News for the past 22 years, writing close to 1,600 of her weekly “Heeney Hearsay” columns.

In recent years, Harvey worked at the Cliffview Assisted Living Center in Kremmling, where she organized holiday parties, called Bingo, and helped keep the limbs and minds of local seniors active by teaching chair aerobics.

In addition to helping local senior citizens, Harvey also was an advocate for Kremmling’s children. In recent years, she volunteered five times per week to help children with their reading.

Harvey’s work for the public good included being a member of both the Grand County Council on Aging and the regional Council on Aging. Both organizations have recognized her as Senior of the Year.

Always generous, Harvey crocheted hundreds of afghans for Kremmling-area babies over the years. She also donated her crocheted afghans to raise thousands of dollars for local causes.

Harvey’s good deeds were recognized by the public as well. In 2006, she was honored by West Grand Educational Foundation as its Citizen of the Year. In 2000, she was named a “9News Who Care” Citizen of the Year and was featured on Channel 9 for her many contributions to the community.

Born in 1916 in Springfield, Mo., and raised in Kansas, Inell came to Colorado to study at the Greeley State Teachers College, which later became the University of Northern Colorado.

At the age of 22, she taught eight grades in Pratt, Kan., in a one-room school to which she rode a horse every day and where stoked a potbelly stove for heat. Later, she taught on a Ute Indian reservation in Ignacio before going on to teach drama for several years.

After retiring, she and her husband Bill moved to Heeney where they loved to fish in Green Mountain Reservoir. After Bill’s death in 2000, she moved to Kremmling and lived in her own house.

An avid writer, Inell was a freelance writer for both the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. For more than 30 years, her poems, columns and essays have appeared in the Middle Park Times and Sky-Hi Daily News.

(Editor’s note: Much of the above article was based upon a 2006 article written by local writer and former Middle Park Times editor Chris Tracy, who graciously consented to its use.)

The following is a poem written by Inell Harvey to celebrate her 90th birthday in 2006.

I’ve Done A Lot Of Livin’

by Inell Harvey

I’ve done a lot of livin’

In these 90 years of mine,

And now I’m here to tell you ”

I’ve had one great grand time.

I sailed the Great Lakes when retired,

And, like I say, that great big boat

Had nothing left to be desired.

(I’m not re-tired, just re-tarded.)

I’ve seen the moose and his mate

Under skies of bluish hue

I’ve traveled all the 48 “

Whoops! Now it’s 52.

I’ve taught children readin’ an’

writin’,

Fired pot-bellied stove is keepin’ frost from bitin’.

I heard the coyotes howl at night,

And hunted them with all my might.

I saw the gamblers tossin’ dice,

They shook the walls with curses.

I’ve listened to the preacher man

Tell of Jesus and read verses.

Yes, of cares I’ve had my share.

And took care of the ailing.

I always took the Lord along,

It wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Yes, I’ve lived all over Colorado,

North, East, South and West

But for the real life livin’

It’s Kremmling I love the best.

Yes, I’ve done a lot of livin’

In these 90 years of mine,

But I’ve never made a fortune

From writing verse or rhyme.


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