Life Legacy

69 of Sun City West, Arizona.



Gene Ann Latenser was born in Kansas City, Missouri July 26, 1944, the only child of Jim and Kay Linkins. Her father started his career as an accountant and later became a salesman for the GAF Company. His job required several relocations during his career.



Gene Ann’s early childhood was spent in Burbank, California where she attended Villa Cabrini where her mother taught. Her mother had a background in business education and taught Gene Ann to type at a very early age. She typed so fast that later in high school her teacher asked her to leave the beginning typing class because she was upsetting the other students. Her father was promoted to a position in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The family left Burbank in 1955 one week before the opening of Disneyland.



In Albuquerque, at the age of 15 Gene Ann was selected as one of 16 children to be part of a Dance Troupe that toured Europe in the summer of 1959. She remembered performing on the rooftop of a building in Harlem, New York before boarding a ship the next day for Europe. Each child had to earn $600 for the trip and Gene Ann earned her money by teaching ballroom dancing at the Arthur Murray studio. Her dance partner was Sissy King’s brother for those of you who remember the Lawrence Welk show. Three days after arriving home from that trip, her father was transferred to Denver where Gene Ann lived up until moving to Arizona four years ago.



Gene Ann studied Fasion Design at the University of Northern Colorado and later Colorado State University. Her first job however, was in the field of finance. She worked for a brokerage in downtown Denver. Her first year there, she was elected president of the Denver Women’s Bond Club. Later she worked in Human Resources for the famous Denver Dry Department Store. She remembered the store being closed to the public for several hours one day while Brooke Shields and her mother shopped.



In the years that followed, Gene Ann worked as an executive secretary for several companies in the mining business. One of her proudest accomplishments was outfitting a mining operation in Liberia, Africa. Some of her closest friends don’t realize that Gene Ann was vice president of a mining company for several years. She met her husband Frank at Hazen Research in Golden, Colorado where she was secretary to the president.



Gene Ann loved to travel with her husband taking cruises all over the world. In the last five years, she enjoyed many trips to different parts of Colorado and Arizona in the couple’s RV. Early in life, Gene Ann desperately wanted to have children, but was unable to. She did however acquire several miniature schnauzers after retiring and she referred to them as her kids. Gene Ann was a devout Catholic. She was also an accomplished artist and decorated her home with oil paintings. In addition, she was a gourmet cook. After retiring, she volunteered her time for years at Lutheran Hospital and Our Lady of Fatima parish office in Lakewood, Colorado. More recently she volunteered time at Benevilla and PORA close to her home in Sun City West, Arizona.



Gene Ann had an infectious laugh and a wonderful sense of humor. She leaves behind a devastated husband, many mourning friends and two schnauzers. Her life counted for a lot.



Gene Ann was preceded in death be her parents, James and Kathryn Linkins, and she will be laid to rest next to them at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.



In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Rocky Mountain Chapter

720 S. Colorado Blvd. Suite 500-S

Denver, CO 80246

(720) 440-8620



~Rosary~

Sunday, July 27,2014

7:00 PM

Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary Chapel

12801 West 44th Avenue

Wheat Ridge, CO 80033



~Memorial Mass~

Monday, July 28, 2014

11:30 AM

Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary Chapel

12801 West 44th Avenue

Wheat Ridge, CO 80033