January 7, 1923 was a chilly day in Blanca, Colorado: only a high of -4C or 28 degrees F. William Charles Strayer Kitchen (Harold) was born to Katherine (Hard) and Harold Robert Kitchen. It may have been a chilly day but just two weeks before, mother and unborn child had gone riding and enjoyed a gallop over fields, jumping ditches.
It wasn’t a very comfortable day for driving an open car the twenty some miles from Alamosa to Blanca and the doctor didn’t manage to arrive on time. As a matter of fact it was a few days before he got around to stopping by the Kitchen home where he found experienced midwife and grandmother (Margaret Strayer) had done right by mother and child. Somehow he also didn’t manage to fill out the birth certificate correctly and baby acquired Strayer as part of his name. This oversight was not discovered for many years until – grown now and looking for work, he needed his birth certificate and found the error. Because he was the first born son the family decided that Junior was a fitting name to hang on the little fellow and he began to be called Harold after his father. That alias also went undiscovered for many years. By that time the name had stuck and he was known to most people as Harold as long as he lived. Daughter Nancy always knew what part of his life an old friend came from by the name he was called. If he was called Bill it was someone from his military past. If it was Jr., it was a distant relative, Harold and it was a local friend, William and it was probably a doctor’s office. No matter the name he was always himself.
Harold married Lura Elnora (Margie) Davenport on August 16, 1942. Their family grew to include Nancy, Barbara, David and Bill. In addition they opened their home to several teens in need and lovingly fostered them for a number of years. Daughter, Barbara and foster daughters Martha and Carol predeceased him.
Harold served honorably in the Army Airborne in the South Pacific and even though he received a bullet wound which removed the top of a vertebrae he went on to work on the green chain in a local mill and run and work hard at manual labor and do all the work of any vigorous man of his acquaintance. He always felt incredibly blessed that God had seen fit to allow that vigor. The outcome could have been so much different. The family proudly displays the purple heart award he earned because of that wound. He was hospitalized and away from his unit for about six months before creatively finding a way to return to them.
Harold was a quick and intelligent man and was chosen by the Army especially because of his ability to think sharply. He was a cryptographer and received many important messages, some of which undoubtedly changed the course of the war.
Because he was a sharp thinker and a man of strong convictions, he was asked by the neighbors to run for an open position on the local school board. He served on the Bull Run and Sandy High School boards as well as the Cliffside Cemetery board and the church Elder board for many years. Because he worked shift work as a hydroelectric operator, serving on those boards was done at great expense to himself. He never complained but the fatigue showed in his face and sometimes the older children and Marge worried about him. He provided pack donkeys for Youth Adventures and Wilderness Trails organizations. These organizations were designed to give troubled youth an opportunity to develop in an outdoor setting where it was challenging to carry one’s own pack and learn teamwork. They were given an opportunity to learn of the love God showed toward them by giving his son, Jesus Christ as a sacrifice to cover the cost of their sin. For many it was the first time they had heard they were loved. Let alone loved by God.
In addition to serving the needs of troubled youth, he provided the means for guiding youth from the church. He worked at the power plant, farmed his property, served on the local boards, taught youth and never complained at the work required. His family never suffered because of his faithful service because he was a steady, hard worker.
He was not afraid of personal growth and continued to work on his relational skills until the day he died. Seldom did he even advocate for himself. He had a true servant heart and was generous with his time, resources and finances.
Harold was not a perfect man and he was grateful to his heavenly Father for providing him with forgiveness which leads to eternal life. As he lay on his deathbed he would often break into conversations with his Lord and he was never afraid that he would not “go to heaven”. He was loved and safe and he believed it with a strong abiding faith.
Harold went to be with the Lord on Sunday, October 31, 2021. He was 98 years old.
A funeral service was held on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at Sandy Baptist Church. A graveside service followed at Cliffside Cemetery, where he was laid to rest with his wife, who passed a few months ago.
Sandy Funeral Home handling the arrangements.