Distuisished Army Brigadier General. Colorado Supreme Court Judge. Born the oldest of five children he left home at age 18 in search of a job traveling by boxcar first to Corpus Christi Texas and then on to San Francisco. Unsuccessful in gaining employment he found himself broke and hungry sleeping on park benches. An Army recruiter passing by ask him he if wanted to join the Army, and realizing he had little options left, he immediately signed on. In order to attain his goal of getting a law degree he convinced the Captain that the Army was needed a Photography Shop. He taught himself how to develop film and was soon earning a considerable sum of money. When his two years were up with the Army he enrolled at the University of Arizona and was on his way to earning his long coveted law degree. But the unrest caused by Hitler and Japan prompted Sparks to join the ROTC where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He had just about completed the first semester of law school when the notice to report to the Army came.
He later liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp as a Lt. Colonel of an infantry regiment at the age of 26. After Brig. Gen. Sparks led his troops on 4 beach landings and even went AWOL from a field hospital after getting patched up from shrapnel wounds to get back to his unit fighting to the death in the hills around Anzio. He lived through 511 days of combat, serving in Patton's army and used his leadership with great skill again for the state of Colorado in the 60's and 70's as an attorney, supreme court judge, Ground Commander for the Colorado Army Guard and as an official on the Water Board. After leaving the army, Sparks graduated from the University of Colorado Law School finally earning his degree in 1947. He practiced law in Delta, Colorado where he was elected district attorney. Losing his bid for reelection in 1952, Governor Ed Johnson appointed him to fill an unexpired term on the Colorado Supreme Court. At the end of that term, he returned to his law practice in Delta. He died from complications due to pneumonia.
Felix Sparks and Mary Frances Blair were married in Tucson, Arizona on June 17, 1941.
He later liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp as a Lt. Colonel of an infantry regiment at the age of 26. After Brig. Gen. Sparks led his troops on 4 beach landings and even went AWOL from a field hospital after getting patched up from shrapnel wounds to get back to his unit fighting to the death in the hills around Anzio. He lived through 511 days of combat, serving in Patton's army and used his leadership with great skill again for the state of Colorado in the 60's and 70's as an attorney, supreme court judge, Ground Commander for the Colorado Army Guard and as an official on the Water Board. After leaving the army, Sparks graduated from the University of Colorado Law School finally earning his degree in 1947. He practiced law in Delta, Colorado where he was elected district attorney. Losing his bid for reelection in 1952, Governor Ed Johnson appointed him to fill an unexpired term on the Colorado Supreme Court. At the end of that term, he returned to his law practice in Delta. He died from complications due to pneumonia.
Felix Sparks and Mary Frances Blair were married in Tucson, Arizona on June 17, 1941.
Distuisished Army Brigadier General. Colorado Supreme Court Judge. Born the oldest of five children he left home at age 18 in search of a job traveling by boxcar first to Corpus Christi Texas and then on to San Francisco. Unsuccessful in gaining employment he found himself broke and hungry sleeping on park benches. An Army recruiter passing by ask him he if wanted to join the Army, and realizing he had little options left, he immediately signed on. In order to attain his goal of getting a law degree he convinced the Captain that the Army was needed a Photography Shop. He taught himself how to develop film and was soon earning a considerable sum of money. When his two years were up with the Army he enrolled at the University of Arizona and was on his way to earning his long coveted law degree. But the unrest caused by Hitler and Japan prompted Sparks to join the ROTC where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He had just about completed the first semester of law school when the notice to report to the Army came.
He later liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp as a Lt. Colonel of an infantry regiment at the age of 26. After Brig. Gen. Sparks led his troops on 4 beach landings and even went AWOL from a field hospital after getting patched up from shrapnel wounds to get back to his unit fighting to the death in the hills around Anzio. He lived through 511 days of combat, serving in Patton's army and used his leadership with great skill again for the state of Colorado in the 60's and 70's as an attorney, supreme court judge, Ground Commander for the Colorado Army Guard and as an official on the Water Board. After leaving the army, Sparks graduated from the University of Colorado Law School finally earning his degree in 1947. He practiced law in Delta, Colorado where he was elected district attorney. Losing his bid for reelection in 1952, Governor Ed Johnson appointed him to fill an unexpired term on the Colorado Supreme Court. At the end of that term, he returned to his law practice in Delta. He died from complications due to pneumonia.
Felix Sparks and Mary Frances Blair were married in Tucson, Arizona on June 17, 1941.
He later liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp as a Lt. Colonel of an infantry regiment at the age of 26. After Brig. Gen. Sparks led his troops on 4 beach landings and even went AWOL from a field hospital after getting patched up from shrapnel wounds to get back to his unit fighting to the death in the hills around Anzio. He lived through 511 days of combat, serving in Patton's army and used his leadership with great skill again for the state of Colorado in the 60's and 70's as an attorney, supreme court judge, Ground Commander for the Colorado Army Guard and as an official on the Water Board. After leaving the army, Sparks graduated from the University of Colorado Law School finally earning his degree in 1947. He practiced law in Delta, Colorado where he was elected district attorney. Losing his bid for reelection in 1952, Governor Ed Johnson appointed him to fill an unexpired term on the Colorado Supreme Court. At the end of that term, he returned to his law practice in Delta. He died from complications due to pneumonia.
Felix Sparks and Mary Frances Blair were married in Tucson, Arizona on June 17, 1941.
Inscription
FELIX L. SPARKS
1917 -2007
TOGETHER FOREVER
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
BRIGADIER GENERAL
US ARMY
Gravesite Details
Shared Marker With Wife Mary F.
