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ENLARGE
Monte McClenahan reads over a biography of James Tyler during a memorial service for Tyler in Montezuma in front of the historic schoolhouse
Saturday afternoon.
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ENLARGE
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A memorial service for James ‘JT' Tyler was well
attended by both friends of JT and canines in
Montezuma Saturday.
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MONTEZUMA — About 100 people gathered Saturday to memorialize an attorney with an intimate connection to Montezuma who died while a fugitive in Mazatlan, Mexico.
James Tyler died Oct. 2 at age 59 after jumping bail in November 2006.
Friends, neighbors, former clients and even Tyler's bail bondsman spoke affectionately of him from the steps of the town's historic schoolhouse. People ate burgers and sipped domestic beers on a road of icy mud. More than 10 dogs meandered through the crowd as children played under the snowy peaks surrounding Montezuma (population about 60).
None of Tyler's family members attended, but those who spoke battled tears as they recalled his way of living.
Carla Chiles, who worked in Tyler's office as a paralegal from 1988 to late 1992, said he took care of her young son Luke “as if he was his own.”
“He had a heart bigger than the state of Alaska and was generous to a fault,” she said, adding that he took Luke to all the Rockies and Broncos home openers in Denver.
Tyler's work as a defense lawyer went beyond the paycheck, and he often volunteered legal advice to friends and neighbors.
“Business was business as usual (in the law office),” Chiles said. “But the attitude was more that everyone deserves to have their rights upheld. ... He wanted to make sure the little guy didn't get railroaded.”
Tyler was known for a keen understanding of the law that led to many a case's dismissal on technicality.
“He'd argue anything and — more often than not — win,” Chiles said.
Bail bondsman Monte McClenahan spoke of Tyler as a giver in a world where so many people are takers.
Alex Cassidy, who lived in Montezuma from about 1988-91, said Tyler was known to pick up a hitchhiker, bring that person into town and let them sleep on his couch for a few days.
“He was a good guy who did a lot of things for a lot of people,” he said. “He had a way of ruffling feathers.”
In previous accounts, people who knew Tyler describe him as a liberal libertarian who wasn't shy with his opinions regarding illegal drugs.
Posters on Saturday depicted Tyler in tie-dye with the phrase “A Montezuma original.”
Cassidy said the town in the late 1980s — with a population of about 16 people — was “like no other town I've ever lived in, in terms of small towns.”
“It definitely had a bit of the wild West,” he said. “It was not uncommon to hear a gun shooting at one end of town, and pretty soon you have another gun shooting at the other end of town.”
Tyler arrived in Summit County in the late 1970s and moved to Montezuma in the early 1980s.
“I think he helped revive the town,” Cassidy said.
Mayor Steve Hornback on Saturday pulled his Dodge Ram in front of the schoolhouse and emerged with a package shipped from Mexico labeled “Human Remains.” Though it had originally been expected Tyler's friends in Mexico would spread his ashes, Hornback worked with U.S. consul John Palmerin to have the remains sent to Colorado.
Mexican funeral director Gustavo Sosa Vasquez packaged the ashes in a quartz crystal box that was displayed in the schoolhouse on a table with pictures of Tyler.
Hornback said most of the ashes will be placed in the cemetery above town, but that some would be shot into the air — perhaps on Fourth of July.
On a mountain overlooking the town is a clearing on a ridge. On that ridge is a clump of green, healthy pine trees.
Mark Finn, an optician of Dillon, said these trees — despite adversity “year after year” — kept Tyler motivated in prison.
“There are no rules above 10,000 feet,” Finn said. “I learned that up here.”
Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.
James Tyler died Oct. 2 at age 59 after jumping bail in November 2006.
Friends, neighbors, former clients and even Tyler's bail bondsman spoke affectionately of him from the steps of the town's historic schoolhouse. People ate burgers and sipped domestic beers on a road of icy mud. More than 10 dogs meandered through the crowd as children played under the snowy peaks surrounding Montezuma (population about 60).
None of Tyler's family members attended, but those who spoke battled tears as they recalled his way of living.
Carla Chiles, who worked in Tyler's office as a paralegal from 1988 to late 1992, said he took care of her young son Luke “as if he was his own.”
“He had a heart bigger than the state of Alaska and was generous to a fault,” she said, adding that he took Luke to all the Rockies and Broncos home openers in Denver.
Tyler's work as a defense lawyer went beyond the paycheck, and he often volunteered legal advice to friends and neighbors.
“Business was business as usual (in the law office),” Chiles said. “But the attitude was more that everyone deserves to have their rights upheld. ... He wanted to make sure the little guy didn't get railroaded.”
Tyler was known for a keen understanding of the law that led to many a case's dismissal on technicality.
“He'd argue anything and — more often than not — win,” Chiles said.
Bail bondsman Monte McClenahan spoke of Tyler as a giver in a world where so many people are takers.
Alex Cassidy, who lived in Montezuma from about 1988-91, said Tyler was known to pick up a hitchhiker, bring that person into town and let them sleep on his couch for a few days.
“He was a good guy who did a lot of things for a lot of people,” he said. “He had a way of ruffling feathers.”
In previous accounts, people who knew Tyler describe him as a liberal libertarian who wasn't shy with his opinions regarding illegal drugs.
Posters on Saturday depicted Tyler in tie-dye with the phrase “A Montezuma original.”
Cassidy said the town in the late 1980s — with a population of about 16 people — was “like no other town I've ever lived in, in terms of small towns.”
“It definitely had a bit of the wild West,” he said. “It was not uncommon to hear a gun shooting at one end of town, and pretty soon you have another gun shooting at the other end of town.”
Tyler arrived in Summit County in the late 1970s and moved to Montezuma in the early 1980s.
“I think he helped revive the town,” Cassidy said.
Mayor Steve Hornback on Saturday pulled his Dodge Ram in front of the schoolhouse and emerged with a package shipped from Mexico labeled “Human Remains.” Though it had originally been expected Tyler's friends in Mexico would spread his ashes, Hornback worked with U.S. consul John Palmerin to have the remains sent to Colorado.
Mexican funeral director Gustavo Sosa Vasquez packaged the ashes in a quartz crystal box that was displayed in the schoolhouse on a table with pictures of Tyler.
Hornback said most of the ashes will be placed in the cemetery above town, but that some would be shot into the air — perhaps on Fourth of July.
On a mountain overlooking the town is a clearing on a ridge. On that ridge is a clump of green, healthy pine trees.
Mark Finn, an optician of Dillon, said these trees — despite adversity “year after year” — kept Tyler motivated in prison.
“There are no rules above 10,000 feet,” Finn said. “I learned that up here.”
Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.
