Carl Zehna

My father, Carl Louis Zehna, passed from this world December 25, 2015. He was 80 years old.
He was born on January 21, 1935 to Romuldo "Roy" Zehna and Francis Katherine Griebe in Denver, Colorado. He fondly recalled fishing for catfish and bluegill in the small lakes throughout Denver and ice skating in the winter months.
After high school Carl joined the Navy and served two years active duty as an Aviation Electronics Technician aboard an LST. Discharged honorably in December 1955 he went on to work for a short time at the Climax mine in Leadville, Colorado before attending Colorado State University in Ft. Collins. He received his B.S. in Forest Management in 1962.
Carl rarely stayed in one place very long and worked a variety of jobs throughout the American west including timber management, surveying, forest fire fighting and oil field work.
After a brief courtship he married Linda Myers Morton on New Year's Eve 1970 in New Orleans, Louisiana. I was their only child together, a son.
Carl was a difficult man to understand and a harder man to love. But his wealth of knowledge, lively storytelling, and piercing gaze made him an unforgettable character.
His life story is much more a collection of dramatic misadventures rather than any linear progression of dates and times. His world was uncompromising and well-seasoned. That his personal heroes were men like George S. Patton, Cassius Clay and Ernest Hemingway reveals this. As a believer in past lives and reincarnation perhaps he was a man better suited to a different time.
Through his passionate love of fishing and the outdoors, he has taught me about the wonder of nature and the delicate web of our eco system. At the source of some glacial stream was where he felt closest to God. He taught me to love the earth, to respect all creatures great and small, to know the joys of putting hand tools to wood, and the simple pleasures of tending a small garden. While we don't always understand men such as he, in our search to do so perhaps we can achieve something greater: the ability to forgive them.
Carl is survived by a younger sister, Agnes Louise O'Donnell, myself: James Roy Zehna, and two step-sons, Scott Myers and Lawrence Myers. A private memorial service will be held at a later date. Any correspondence may be directed by email to James Zehna at [email protected]/* */. A special thank you to the Zubiate family for much patience and assistance these last years.
"Keep your rod-tip down and watch you back-cast."