An old friend passed away on Christmas Day.
I had met him only a couple of years ago at his neighbor's party and I recognized that he was a special person with a special spirit and a special story to tell.
He had been drafted into the German military during WWII and was captured in North Africa by the Americans and sent to Camp Carson, here in Colorado Springs, as a POW. He learned to speak English and he loved Colorado. He had the most beautiful yard in the Broadmoor area and we enjoyed walking thru it. He had an eye for beauty.
After the War, he went back to Germany for a few years but then returned to Colorado, where he became fairly wealthy building condos and apartments up in Vail.
But his story would make an interesting movie.
Here is his obit from yesterday's Gazette:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gazette/obituary.aspx?n=karlheinz-finzel&pid=168810574