Trefor Duane Roberts

Trefor Duane Roberts, Age 86, of Westminster, CO passed away peacefully on February 20, 2025, with family present. Trefor was born Feb 1, 1939 in Butte Montana, the only son of Trefor and Ruby Ella (Montgomery) Roberts. Trefor graduated from Butte High School in 1957. In his school year days, he took up ice skating, and studied at Sun Valley in Idaho, where he competed in couples figure skating.

In early 1959, Trefor joined the Air Force. Armed with basic training (Lackland AFB), Romanian language school, and advanced crypto logic skills training (USAF Security Service, Goodfellow AFB), he carried out his 1st duty at Karamursel Air station in Turkey. There he spent two years in Signal Intelligence. The Air Force then sent him to intensive German language school in Syracuse, where he met Marilyn Jean Stanton, who was in nursing school at the time. They married on Feb 23, 1963, and then moved to Germany for Trefor’s second duty at Templehof, a US Military Airfield in Berlin. There he intercepted and translated communications during the Cold War, became a member of the Berlin Island Association and became an expert, according to USAF Documents, in “…all subjects related to the Island City and the Iron Curtain”. After two years he and his wife Marilyn returned to the States just weeks before his first daughter (Elisabeth Christin) was born. Trefor was Honorably Discharged in March 1965 after serving a total of 6 years.

Trefor then earned a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from Syracuse University. During this time his second child (Trefor Todd) was born. The family moved to the Seattle Washington area where Trefor worked for Boeing Company, performing mathematical calculations for building aircraft, and witnessing the first Boeing 747 jet to roll out, during ceremonies at the then-new assembly facility in Everett, Washington. Trefor and Marilyn had their second daughter (Elissa Karen) and second son (John Stanton, stillborn) in Seattle Washington.

Following a company-wide layoff by Boeing, the family then moved to Colorado, where Trefor worked as a civilian for the Department of Defense, as a Computer Security Specialist, first at the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center on York Street in Denver, and then at Lowry AFB. Trefor continued his career there until his retirement. During that time he and Marilyn resided in Westminster, CO and raised their three children. Trefor remained in Westminster CO until his passing.

Trefor and Marilyn were married for 57 years until Marilyn’s passing. They raised three children, and enjoyed three grandchildren. Remaining to cherish Trefor’s memory are his daughter Elisabeth Christin (David Solano), his son Trefor Todd, his grandson Trefor Dylan, and his granddaughter Tarah Jean. Preceding Trefor in death are his wife Marilyn, his daughter Elissa Karen, and his granddaughter Cheyenne.

Trefor loved geology and had a hobby of studying rocks and minerals. He enjoyed his rock-hounding trips in the Rocky Mountains. He also loved wood-working and completed many home projects with his characteristic mathematical precision.

Trefor also loved teaching; in his spare time he taught computer language classes at the local Community College, and taught beginning Welsh language classes as part of the Colorado Welsh Society. As a member of the CWS, he enjoyed participating in many events. His ancestry hails from the native-speaking countryside of Wales, where most of his more-distant family still resides. He enjoyed taking several trips over the years back to Wales to visit family, and attend the Welsh Heritage school in Nant Gwrtheyrn on the coast of Wales by the Irish Sea.

One of Trefor’s recent hobbies was building his own personal webpage, and the 1956-1957 Butte High School webpage. He enjoyed trips with his children back to Butte MT for class reunions, to visit old friends, and to teach his children about the open-pit mining in Butte that consumed the whole section of town where he grew up.

Trefor was known for his friendly disposition, his dry sense of humor, his calm and logical problem-solving, and his love of a good, dark stout. He will be dearly missed.

A Celebration of Life with military honors will be held in the Chapel at Broomfield United Methodist Church (545 W 10th Ave, Broomfield, CO 80020) on Friday March 14th, 2025, at 11 am. A lunch will follow.