George Hottel, 59

Nov. 18, 1959 – Jan. 25, 2018

Evansville, Wyo.

George Hottel, born Nov 18, 1959, in Alamosa, Colo., died Jan. 25, 2018, in Evansville, Wyo.

His primary residence as a boy growing up was in Brighton, Colo.

George met Cindy Walker in Brighton in 1977 when she was 15, he was 17 years old. They got married in 1979 and had two sons, Kory Hottel in 1981 and Andrew “Jake” Hottel in 1982.

George began working in the oilfield in several different capacities until he eventually found his way to Wagner Caterpillar in 1983. It was there that George learned welding and fabrication and after working there for 15 years, he decided he wanted to work for himself. He started up as a sole proprietor of Hottel Welding and Machine in 1998. Soon after, George was providing contract welding to Halliburton Services in Fort Lupton, Colo. In 2009, George and his son Jake formed Hottel Welding LLC and together they grew the company into a successful business. He worked in Fort Morgan, Casper Wyo., Williston, N.D., and back to Fort Lupton, Colo., up until his death.

George made many friends throughout his life, he loved hunting elk with them every year in Gunnison, Colo., and also in Casper, Wyo. Hunting camp was one of his favorite places to be and although he loved the excitement of bagging one, he was equally happy just being up there with several of his best friends sharing stories. He was a life member of National Rifle Association. One of his nephews and his sons got him interested in rock crawling and soon the group of three or four turned into many friends, and about 15 rigs enjoying several years of trips to Moab, Montrose, Buena Vista, Penrose and wherever else big rocks could be found.

He was always trying to make his rig better and he could often be found out in the shop cutting things off and welding things on. His recent interest was to buy a side-by-side and join up with friends again to run different trails in Colorado. No matter what the hobby, George just loved being with his friends, family and especially with his sons doing things together.

George also enjoyed growing vegetables in his garden. He was out there every summer hoeing, watering, fertilizing and producing buckets of tomatoes and other vegetables to share.

George is survived by Cindy Hottel, his wife of 38 years; oldest son, Kory (Joni) Hottel of Bailey, Colo., Andrew “Jake” Hottel of Fort Lupton; brother, Ed Hottel of Brighton; sisters, Hallie Sue Sawyer of Bridgeport, Neb., Ann Sack of Brighton, Kayce Phillips (Joe) of Keenesburg, Colo., and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Sarah Hottel; his parents, Bill and Mary Lue (Smith) Hottel; and his brothers-in-law, Stan Sawyer and Bernie Sack.

A celebration of Life is was held Feb. 2, 2018, at Tabor-Rice Funeral Home in Brighton.