Last Look
The UNC landscape from classrooms to the world beyond
By Mike Peters
The Plot Thickens
UNC and Greeley have grown together, a community and a campus integrally linked. Dig into the past of one, and you’ll likely find the other. That shared history is embodied (so to speak) in Greeley’s Linn Grove Cemetery. The city’s original cemetery was on Inspiration Point, which is where the University Center is located. The bodies first buried there were moved to Linn Grove (a few blocks east of campus) in 1882. At least (the story goes) the city said they were pretty sure they found all of the bodies buried on the hill. Though they’ve moved the graves, the connection to UNC remains (sorry) through many who were buried there, including:
JARED BRUSH
Instrumental in securing the State Normal School in Greeley, Brush came to Colorado in 1859 for the gold rush, but eventually settled with his brothers to farm land near present-day Johnstown. After one of his brothers was killed by Indians, the other brother bought Jared out. He became a state legislator and lieutenant governor under two governors. Brush, Colorado bears his name.
LORETTA CHAPPELOW
A graduate of Colorado State College of Education, Chappelow taught in the Greeley-Evans School district for 46 years before she retired. Chappelow School in Evans is named after her.
PATRICK HAGGERTY
Haggerty was born in Denver and played basketball and baseball for the Bears in the 1940s and early 50s. He played baseball for the Detroit Tigers before teaching and coaching in Denver. He refereed for the NFL from 1965 to 1992, officiating in three Super Bowls. He’s in the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and was nominated for the NFL Hall of Fame.
EDITH HEATH
A graduate of Colorado State Normal School, Heath came to Greeley as a child in 1880. She was a teacher for 43 years, and Greeley’s Heath Middle School bears her name.
J.M.B. PETRIKIN
A president of Greeley’s First National Bank, Petrikin owned Inspiration Point where the University Center now stands.
RICHARD MONFORT
The older brother of Ken Monfort, namesake of UNC’s College of Business, Richard was a navigator on a bomber in World War II. He was killed in action when his plane was shot down in 1944, and was buried in a French cemetery among thousands of graves. After the war, his family tried unsuccessfully to bring Richard’s body home. In 1948, Kenny, then 20, flew to France with his roommate (the future governor of Colorado, Roy Romer). After bicycling through the graveyard for 15 minutes, they found Richard’s grave. Richard’s body was flown back to America, where he was buried at Linn Grove in the family plot. Colorado Rockies co-owner and UNC graduate Dick Monfort was named after Richard.
ZACHARIAH XENOPHON SNYDER
The president of the State Normal School, now UNC, from 1891-1915. Snyder was a strong supporter of O.T. Jackson in starting Dearfield, the African American colony east of Kersey. He’s the only former UNC president who doesn’t have a building named for him, though his wife Maggie does. She was well-known by students, and Snyder Hall was named for her.
OLIVER TROXEL
A Professor of School Administration and also an administrator at UNC for 29 years, Troxel formulated athletic policies that many schools and colleges adopted.
