Memorialize Former Senator Lewis H. Entz

Second Regular Session Seventy-fifth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO ENGROSSED SJM26-002 LLS NO. M26-0808.02 Jordan Fox x4755 SENATE SPONSORSHIP Simpson, Amabile, Baisley, Ball, Benavidez, Bridges, Bright, Carson, Catlin, Coleman, Cutter, Danielson, Daugherty, Exum, Frizell, Gonzales J., Hinrichsen, Jodeh, Kipp, Kirkmeyer, Kolker, Lindstedt, Liston, Marchman, Mullica, Pelton B., Pelton R., Rich, Roberts, Rodriguez, Snyder, Sullivan, Wallace, Weissman, Zamora Wilson HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Martinez, Senate Committees House Committees SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 26-002 MEMORIALIZING FORMER SENATOR LEWIS H. ENTZ.

WHEREAS, Former Colorado Representative, Senator, veteran, and farmer Lewis H. Entz departed this life on December 10, 2025, at the age of 94; and WHEREAS, Lewis Henry Entz was born on September 7, 1931, in Monte Vista, Colorado, to Peter and Isadora Entz. Growing up on the family farm, his parents taught him to mind the "three Ps" of pigs, peas, and potatoes, he told the Colorado Foundation for Water Education for a 2012 profile; and WHEREAS, Senator Entz served his country as a Marine in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953; and WHEREAS, In 1952, Senator Entz married his first wife, Lora Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.

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SENATE Final Reading March 10, 2026 Chambers, with whom he had three daughters and a son; and WHEREAS, Upon his return from the service, Senator Entz took up his family's farming tradition, opening a successful 160-acre potato farm in Hooper, Colorado. The operation would grow to over 1,000 acres. He continued working on his farm even while serving in the legislature, telling the Colorado Foundation for Water Education that he was often at his "legislative desk for roll call in the morning and back to the farm the same afternoon"; and WHEREAS, Senator Entz won his first election for public office in 1969, as an Alamosa County Commissioner, and served on the Alamosa Board of County Commissioners until 1982. Senator Entz was the chairperson of the Board for eight years of his tenure; and WHEREAS, In 1983, voters in House District 60 elected Senator Entz to the first of eight consecutive terms in the Colorado House of Representatives. Throughout his tenure in the House of Representatives, in which he represented Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Huerfano, Las Animas, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties, Senator Entz played a key role in issues related to agriculture, local government, energy, natural resources, and veterans' and military affairs. Senator Entz chaired the House Local Government committee from 1989 through 1994; the Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources committee from 1995 through 1998; and the interim Wildlife legislative committee in 1995; and WHEREAS, After leaving the House of Representatives in 1998, Senator Entz served on the Colorado Water Conservation Board for two years, including as the Board's chair in 2000; and WHEREAS, In 2001, a vacancy committee selected Senator Entz to fill the open District 5 seat in the Colorado State Senate, replacing Senator Gigi Dennis after she left to join the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Upon serving out the remainder of Senator Dennis' term, in which Senator Entz represented Alamosa, Costilla, Conejos, Custer, Mineral, Huerfano, Las Animas, Pueblo, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties, Senator Entz defeated two opponents to win reelection in 2002. Reapportionment in 2002 changed the boundaries of his district to Alamosa, Chaffee, Conejos, Costilla, Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Mineral, Pitkin, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties. In his more than five years in the Senate, Senator Entz continued to be involved with issues related to veterans' affairs, agriculture, natural resources, and local government, among others. He chaired the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy committee in 2003 and 2004 and was a member of the legislative Water Legislation Review and legislative Water Resources Review committees from 2001 through 2005, serving as chair of the legislative Water Resources Review committee in 2003 and as vice chair in 2004; and WHEREAS, As a legislator, Senator Entz carried nearly 70 water bills, including the 2004 bill that created Subdistrict One in the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, first-of-its-kind legislation that became a model for the rest of the country. In 2007, the Colorado Water Congress presented Senator Entz the Wayne Aspinall "Water Leader of the Year" award, and, in 2012, the Colorado Foundation for Water Education awarded him the President's Award for lifetime achievement in water education; and WHEREAS, Senator Entz sponsored House Bill 88-1250, which created the Colorado Division of Aeronautics. The signing of the bill on May 24, 1988, took place on the wing of Senator Entz's aircraft. Additionally, he received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Colorado Aeronautical Board for his crucial role in its establishment; and WHEREAS, Senator Entz's former colleague in the state legislature and then U.S. Representative John Salazar paid tribute to Senator Entz in the U.S. House, saying that Senator Entz's "vast knowledge of Colorado's complex water laws and the importance of water to the San Luis Valley was essential, and he worked tirelessly to protect water," and that "No one served the people of the San Luis Valley more vigorously than Entz"; and WHEREAS, Adams State College awarded Senator Entz an honorary doctorate degree in 2007; and WHEREAS, Following the death of Lora Entz in 2014, Senator Entz married Kathryn "Kitty" Mary Bigley Entz in 2020; and WHEREAS, Senator Entz was active in his community outside of political office. He was a well-known pilot and aviator in the region, and he frequented parades across the San Luis Valley, in which he drove his restored 1943 Ford jeep. Senator Entz participated in the Alamosa Veterans Day Parade every year, and he displayed his passion for restoring cars and tractors through the Early Iron Festival car show in Alamosa; and WHEREAS, Current and former legislators remember Senator Entz as a mentor and friend, including current Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson and former state senators Gigi Dennis and Larry Crowder. "Such an honorable public servant; I am so proud to have known him and [worked] with him on important Valley issues," Simpson told Colorado Politics in December. "I work with folks at the Capitol today who still recall his legislative prowess and professionalism"; and WHEREAS, Senator Entz was preceded in death by his first wife, Lora Entz; his parents; nine siblings; and two grandchildren; and WHEREAS, Senator Entz is survived by his wife, Kathryn "Kitty" Mary Bigley Entz; daughters Cynthia Chapman, Cassandra Curtis, and Catherine Wright; son Michael A. Entz; sister Vivian Snow; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren; now, therefore, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:

That, in the death of Senator Lewis H. Entz, the people of the State of Colorado have lost a devoted public servant and an outstanding citizen, and that we, the members of the Senate of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly, pay tribute to Lewis H. Entz for years of dedicated public service and extend our deep and heartfelt sympathy to the members of the family.

Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Memorial be sent to Kathryn "Kitty" Mary Bigley Entz, Cynthia Chapman, Cassandra Curtis, Catherine Wright, and Michael A. Entz.