J.E. DeVilbiss ‘Very Ill’
September 15th, 2008 at 08:10pm Post Staff 43
ASPEN, COLORADO (Post Time News)--Aspen City Council Member J.E. DeVilbiss is “very ill” according to Mayor Mick Ireland.
Due to his illness Judge DeVilbiss has missed the last two Council meetings, including the one Monday night, and it is unclear when he will return to his elected post.
“He is very ill,” Mayor Mick Ireland said after at a City Council meeting at Aspen City Hall Monday September 15th, 2008. “I am not going to comment any more or get into specifics, but he is ill.”
Council members Steve Skadron and Jack Johnson both confirmed their fellow Council Member is sick, but did not want to get into specifics “out of respect” for DeVilbiss. Council members were reluctant to comment further due to privacy concerns.
Friends of DeVilbiss, a close political ally of Mayor Ireland, have remarked for months upon his frail appearance at Council meetings. DeVillbiss has often sided with Mayor Ireland and other Council members when it comes to opposing growth in Aspen. According to his official biography: “J.E. has lived in affordable housing since early 1990s and is a strong supporter of the program.”
For Judge DeVilbiss, City Council is his first elected political position and he is in his second term. He started his career as a Garfield County Judge from 1972 to 1976. From 1976 until 2002 he was the District Judge for the 9th Judicial District. When he retired in 2002 he was the presiding District Judge in Aspen.
DeVilbiss was born in Laredo, Texas in 1934 and grew up in Texas. He obtained his BA from the University of Texas in 1957 and followed that up by getting his LLD from the University of Texas Law School in 1965. He moved with his family to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1970.
Entry Filed under: Aspen, Garfield County, Aspen City Council
1 Comment Add your own
1. Mitch Mulhall | September 15th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
To my knowledge, J.E. ain’t dead yet. Post staff’s past-tense verbs are therefore unwarranted.
My dad and I had lunch with J.E. about a fort-night ago at Fiesta Guadalajara. J.E. told me that he'd been spending a lot of time at Valley View lately, which really wasn’t news to me. He asked me if my dad had told me about “the other night.” Seems J.E. had enough of VVH cafeteria faire, called my dad up, and asked him if he’d take him out to dinner. My dad was quick to oblige. That’s what good friends do. They dined together at Fiesta Guadalajara.
A while back, in some Burlingate thread, someone alluded to, and I’m paraphrasing, “a snide remark by J.E. DeVilbiss.” That stood out at me. You see, I’ve known J.E. for the better part of thirty years. Snide is a term that doesn’t begin to approach the humor, life experience, or thoughtfulness of the man.
The last time I saw J.E. he was smiling as he dropped me off in front of my office, his dog in the backseat wagging tail. My recollection of that smile looks just like sunshine.
Cheers,
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