Charles Siegfried Sporleder Jr. ’44

Charles Siegfried Sporleder Jr. ’44 died May 12 in Walsenburg, Colorado. After Dartmouth he continued his education in industrial management at the University of Denver until World War II interrupted his studies in April 1943. He served in the European theater as a master supply sergeant in the ground forces of the 8th Air Force under Curtis Lemay. He returned home and bought the feed and flour section of Sporleder Selling Co., which his grandfather helped found in 1894. The business was expanded in 1969 with the purchase of the Walsenburg Feed Mill. “Sig” was an astute businessman who ran his business in a fair and honest fashion. He helped countless youngsters get started in agriculture, and received the 2000 Outstanding Conservationist of the Year Award from the Colorado Association of Soil Conservation Districts and was named the Outstanding Citizen of Huerfano County by the Colorado State Republicans last May. An active cattle rancher, he ran a herd near the East Spanish Peak in the summertime on the family ranch and wintered the cattle on his Huerfano River Ranch. He loved the mountains and the Spanish Peaks, enjoying many excursions on the family properties there. Sig was predeceased by his wife, Ruth, in 1988. Five children, including Gretchen Sporleder Orr ’85,