Rocky Mountain News
July 29, 1993
By MARLYS DURAN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF WRITER
DUKE' TALBOT, OUTDOORSMAN, PHOTOGRAPHER
Merle W. "Duke" Talbot grew up on a Brighton farm, where a love of the outdoors came naturally.
So it was fitting that Mr. Talbot spent much of his leisure time hunting, fishing and photographing nature.
Even after Mr. Talbot took up oil painting in his retirement years, his subjects were animals and landscapes.
"He grew up in that environment," his wife, Florence Talbot, said. "He knew Colorado about as well as any person I was ever around."
Mr. Talbot died July 26 in Brighton. He was 74. He was born Jan. 9, 1919, on a farm south of Brighton, where his grandparents had homesteaded in the 1860s. He graduated from Brighton High School in 1936.
As a young surveyor for the Bureau of Reclamation, Mr. Talbot climbed numerous Colorado mountains. Then he returned to the farm for a few years and worked at the former Lehrman Mercantile in Brighton.
In 1945, he became a lineman for the Public Service Co. of Colorado. When he retired in 1976, he was supervisor of line crews in the Platte Valley district.
Mr. Talbot was an accomplished carpenter and electrician. After becoming engaged to the former Florence Chambers in 1948, he spent two years building their two-bedroom home in Brighton.
After a hunting trip in Alaska in 1961, Mr. Talbot added a den to the home, where he displayed his mounted trophies, including a caribou and a dall sheep.
An avid photographer, Mr. Talbot had recorded all of his hunting trips and family vacations in still photos, movie film, videotape and oil paintings.
"Most all of his paintings were of places he had fished and hunted," his wife said.
True to Mr. Talbot's wishes, there was no funeral service. "He always hated formal things of any sort," his wife said.
Mr. Talbot also is survived by three brothers, Ed Talbot of Prescott, Ariz., Robert Talbot of Ponca City, Okla., and Don Talbot of Brighton.
Contributions can be made to the Hospice of Northern Colorado, 15 N. 12th Ave., Brighton 80601
Merle W. "Duke" Talbot grew up on a Brighton farm, where a love of the outdoors came naturally.
So it was fitting that Mr. Talbot spent much of his leisure time hunting, fishing and photographing nature.
Even after Mr. Talbot took up oil painting in his retirement years, his subjects were animals and landscapes.
"He grew up in that environment," his wife, Florence Talbot, said. "He knew Colorado about as well as any person I was ever around."
Mr. Talbot died July 26 in Brighton. He was 74. He was born Jan. 9, 1919, on a farm south of Brighton, where his grandparents had homesteaded in the 1860s. He graduated from Brighton High School in 1936.
As a young surveyor for the Bureau of Reclamation, Mr. Talbot climbed numerous Colorado mountains. Then he returned to the farm for a few years and worked at the former Lehrman Mercantile in Brighton.
In 1945, he became a lineman for the Public Service Co. of Colorado. When he retired in 1976, he was supervisor of line crews in the Platte Valley district.
Mr. Talbot was an accomplished carpenter and electrician. After becoming engaged to the former Florence Chambers in 1948, he spent two years building their two-bedroom home in Brighton.
After a hunting trip in Alaska in 1961, Mr. Talbot added a den to the home, where he displayed his mounted trophies, including a caribou and a dall sheep.
An avid photographer, Mr. Talbot had recorded all of his hunting trips and family vacations in still photos, movie film, videotape and oil paintings.
"Most all of his paintings were of places he had fished and hunted," his wife said.
True to Mr. Talbot's wishes, there was no funeral service. "He always hated formal things of any sort," his wife said.
Mr. Talbot also is survived by three brothers, Ed Talbot of Prescott, Ariz., Robert Talbot of Ponca City, Okla., and Don Talbot of Brighton.
Contributions can be made to the Hospice of Northern Colorado, 15 N. 12th Ave., Brighton 80601
