Rep. Joe Neguse honors Marshall Fire survivor and her late husband in Colorado
On a summer afternoon, a small crowd gathered in Superior to honor a larger-than-life kind of person.
"She is an icon here in our community," Rep. Joe Neguse told the group. The House Assistant Minority Leader, a Democrat who represents Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, was referring to 82-year-old Gladys Forshee.
She has called Colorado home for more than 50 years and has served as Superior's town clerk, planning commissioner and firefighter on the volunteer department she helped create.
She is someone who is more accustomed to giving than receiving but, on Dec. 30, 2021, she lost almost everything in the Marshall Fire. The only thing that survived was the American flag she'd put up in honor of her late husband Larry Bill, an Army veteran who died in 1992.
"I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. I thought 'That can't be my flag,'" she said.
Neguse, too, marveled that the flag was still standing after the destructive wildfire that burned more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County.
"It's reflective of the resilience of this community and it fills you with great pride to be able to look at that great flag and know that it survived," Neguse said.
But the flag that draped the casket of Forshee's late husband did not survive, and the Department of Veterans Affairs doesn't replace burial flags. Neguse and his staff made it happen.
"It's a small, in our view, gesture and way to be able to try to make Gladys whole, knowing that there's a long process to rebuilding of course and all that she lost on that day," Neguse said.
Forshee was overcome with emotion.
"It's very special, very special. I've talked to his flag a lot before, and I haven't had that and so, now I have it and I can have our conversations again," she said.
She's decided not to rebuild on her Superior property and instead give all she has left to her community.
"The good Lord wants me to take care of this place for some reason. So, if I can get it made it into a park, it will be the People's Park. I just consider this as one more of my community service projects," she said.
It's a project she hopes will bring healing to her community.
"The road to recovery is slow. We know at times it can be all consuming," Neguse said. "But days like today remind us of the importance of working together to rebuild our communities and to make them stronger."