Robert Dean Louden

  Robert "Bob" Dean Louden was born on October 30, 1937 to Woodrow Wilson Louden and Electa Marie (Geiger) Louden in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He was the oldest of four children: Marjorie/Marge (Brown), William/Bill and James/Jim. As a child, Bob lived in many parts of the USA with his traveling salesman father and family. In 1954, they moved to Boulder, Colorado where Bob met Suzanne (Ford) Louden at Boulder High. For his whole life, he affectionately referred to her as ‘the prettiest and smartest girl in school.’ They married at a young age and began to build their blessed life together. He started his career at Woolworth’s Department/Dime Store, then Tripp’s Market delivering groceries by truck throughout Boulder. He moved on to “digging holes and climbing poles” as a lineman/splicer for Mountain Bell Telephone Company from Boulder to Colorado Springs and then was employed as a manager for Budget Rent A Car in downtown Denver. Finally in 1963, he joined his father-in-law’s Boulder business, Ford Office Machines, as an outside sales rep, selling office machines and furniture. 

  Bob believed in the American dream! With hard work and perseverance, on a loan from his in-laws, Kenny and Hazel Ford, Bob opened Louden Office Equipment in Colorado Springs on April Fool’s Day, 1965. He ran their successful business cold calling on companies, selling typewriters, calculators and office machines. Eventually he added furniture after selling his own desk to someone looking for one! He became a Hon, Kimball and Steelcase dealer in town and in 1994 sold the furniture division to OfficeScapes. 

  Bob’s successful sales career allowed them to travel to many parts of the world with manufacturers they represented, creating beautiful and well documented adventures together. He always credited Suzanne as the secret to their success as she helped with the bookkeeping and raised their six children. He gave glory to God for blessing them along the way. 

  Bob and Suzanne chose to raise their family in the peaceful and memory-rich mountains of Cascade, Colorado, outside of Colorado Springs and in the 90’s, the couple moved to Manitou Springs. 

  Bob was a collector with unique taste! He enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. He loved history, antiques, numismatics, hunting, fishing, traveling, reading, shoveling snow (that North Dakota blood), driving his 1929AA Ford Popcorn Wagon in many a parade, the family cabin in the mountains, the circus, performing yo-yo tricks and as many would say, most of all…ice cream. 

  He always took the scenic route, pulling over at EVERY historical marker. He captured thousands, maybe millions, of photographs. He was classy, charming, friendly, generous, tenacious. He cheered for the underdog. He helped strangers. He was stubborn. His shoes were always shined. He never, ever quit. He had a beautiful, strong and quiet faith, always giving the Good Lord credit for his many blessings. If someone grumbled about the wind, he would remind them that it is how the Lord spreads seed. His greatest joy in life was the family he and Suzanne created. He is survived by his sister, Marjorie Brown (Gary) and his precious wife of nearly 71 years, Suzanne; his six children:  Jeffrey, Jeanie Unger (Kevin); Steve; Martha Copelin (Mark); Suzanne Hibbert (Rusty) and Tricia Muehlbauer (Joseph) as well as twelve wonderful grandchildren and nine precious, great grandchildren. 

  As his family, we grieve without him. Yet we know where he’s spending eternity, and we are comforted by that. We are confident he heard God’s words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done.” We will cling to precious memories until we see him again. 

  We offer a sincere thank you to all of the staff at Morningstar at Mountain Shadows for lovingly caring for Bob over the last year and a half. 

  Join us for a celebration of Bob’s beautiful life on Friday, June 27, 2025, 2pm at First Lutheran Church, 1515 N. Cascade Avenue in Colorado Springs. 

  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to their beloved church: First Lutheran Church, 1515 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80907,  Memo: Bob Louden Memorial, or donate online: https://flccs.net/give.