Laurie Vossler was a man who always put God and his family before anything else. Grandpa sure loved his family with his whole heart. He and my grandma built a strong, loving, Christ-centered marriage that their kids and grandkids aspire to have.
Laurie was a tough, hard-working man with a tender and kind heart who always put others before himself. He was a man who never met a stranger; he was always willing to help whoever and whenever he could. After he passed away, we got a card from a guy who none of us knew. He wrote that he had walked into the grocery one day looking for a jacket, because it was cold. Grandpa literally gave him the coat off his back. He would do anything for anyone.
Laurie grew up on a farm in Circle, Montana with his parents and six siblings. They moved to Reed Point, then to Wyoming, and finally, in 1968, to Boulder, where his parents went to work for the Montana Developmental Center. That fall, Laurie met the love of his life, Patty Gruber. She was his waitress at the 4B’s restaurant in Helena; he told his cousin Aaron Remmich, who was Patty’s school bus driver, that she was going to be his wife someday. The two married soon after graduating from Jefferson High School, on September 12, 1970.
He started out working as a meat cutter at the Clancy Store for the Vandykes. He loved that job, and he and Patty had hoped to buy the Clancy store one day — his dad, LeRoy, had always told him to be either an undertaker or a grocery store owner, because everyone dies and people have to eat.
In the meantime, he got a job as a carpenter for JC Penney Construction Services, building and remodeling stores across the country. Every six months they would move to a new town and a new store. He and Grandma got very good at moving; they could fit anything into a little trailer.
In September of 1971, Laurie and Patty welcomed their first son, Luke. And in March of 1974, when they were in Richmond, Indiana, their second son, Lance, arrived. In 1978, Laurie became homesick for Montana, so he returned to Boulder and worked at the Montana Developmental Center. Then, he got the urge to take his family to Canada to help his brother with his cattle operation. They spent five years in Canada, where he ranched and worked as a carpenter.
In 1985, due to the recession, he went back to work for JCPenney Construction. For the next 16 years, he and his family moved frequently across the states and internationally. Finally, they came back to Boulder, where he and Patty purchased the Shop Rite IGA, renaming it L&P Grocery.
Grandpa made everything so fun. All of us grandkids worked for him. We helped stock shelves, or did whatever chores, and got paid with candy bars. On truck days, when food got delivered, he’d set up a snack bar in the back, opening up treats for us.
He was always cracking jokes or messing around. You could tell when he was up to no good, always with that unforgettable smirk on his face. Our meat cutter, Glenn, was one who could scare easily. We have a chest freezer that we always get out before Thanksgiving to put turkeys in. One time, Grandpa hid in it until Glenn opened it to put the turkeys in. Glenn hit the floor.
During those years, Laurie was a volunteer firefighter at the Boulder Fire Department. He supported Jefferson High and its athletic programs, always attending sporting events. He was also a huge supporter of the Jefferson County Fair and Rodeo, where you could always find him in the red barn at the bake sale auction or the big white barn dancing the night away.
He and Grandma ran the family business until 2014. He then pursued what he really loved, cattle ranching, farming, and haying with his wife, sons, grandchildren, and great grandson. It was his favorite thing to do because it brought the family together. We all loved it. He worked all day, spending summers in the tractor haying and winters calving out his “old girls.” He kept buying more and more cows, until he had about 60 head.
Grandpa pursued this passion until the day he went home to be with the Lord. He died on a Thursday. He and my father had been putting up fence so we could put the cattle in pasture on the Friday. We had all these people asking us to let them know if they could do anything. And in fact, ten people showed up with trucks and trailers that Saturday to take the cows up there. We are so thankful for the community and friends we are surrounded by.
