Lew Entz, 94, a former Republican state senator from Hooper, died Wednesday, Dec. 10, following a long illness.

A visitation for Entz is scheduled at Rogers Family Mortuary, 205 State St. in Alamosa, on Friday, Jan. 2, from 4 to 6 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 10 a.m. at the Monte Vista Community Methodist Church, 215 Washington St. Entz will be interred at the Homelake Veterans Cemetery in Monte Vista.

Entz was born Sept. 7, 1931, in Monte Vista. 

He served eight terms in the Colorado House, from 1983 to 1998, representing five counties in the San Luis Valley plus Gunnison, Mineral and Hinsdale counties.

In 2001, he was selected to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Gigi Dennis of Pueblo West, who had joined President George W. Bush’s administration.

Entz won election to a full term in 2002, representing 11 counties from Pueblo to Pitkin. He lost to Democratic Sen. Gail Schwartz in the 2006 election.

Entz was married twice. He married Lora Jean Chambers in 1952; they have three daughters and a son. She died in September 2014.

In 2020, he married Kathryn Bigley Entz, who survives him.

In 2007, then-U.S. Rep. John Salazar paid tribute to Entz in the U.S. House, on the occasion of an honorary degree awarded to Entz by Adams State College. The two served in the General Assembly, representing the same area, when Entz was in the Senate and Salazar in the House.

“Entz is the owner and operator of Entz Farms. He is a licensed pilot, a husband and father of four, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Korean war. Before spending nearly 20 years serving the people in the Colorado General Assembly, he was an Alamosa County commissioner for 14 years,” Salazar said in his tribute.

“We worked together on small airports, agriculture, and water. During all my time dealing with him, I learned enough to heartily agree with the board of trustees of Adams State College in their assessment of his value to his community, region, and State.”

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, Salazar said.

Salazar said no one served the people of the San Luis Valley more vigorously than Entz.

Entz sponsored more than 70 water bills during his time in the General Assembly.

His work on water was highlighted by the Colorado Foundation for Water Education, which honored Entz and former Rep. Diane Hoppe with its president’s award in 2012. 

“Born to a San Luis Valley farming family, as a kid he minded the “three Ps” – pigs, peas and potatoes. ‘The pigs ate the field peas. Those peas were a great green manure for the potatoes as well,’” Entz said in the foundation’s 2012 profile.

“As a farmer and a legislator, Entz appeared in a twinkling here, there and everywhere from his home in Hooper,” the profile said. “I was at my legislative desk for roll call in the morning and back to the farm the same afternoon,” a nearly four-hour drive. “It helped that my son Mike was managing the farm.” 

Entz was also a character.

In April 2006, he paid tribute to the Colorado Alligator Farm in nearby Mosca, bringing a live alligator to the floor of the Colorado Senate.

Angie Binder, who served as the legislative liaison for the Department of Local Affairs in the Bill Owens administration, said Entz was the only lawmaker who “could pass a bill by mumbling a few words at the mic.” 

When Don Ament of Iliff was up for confirmation as commissioner of agriculture, Entz and two other senators dressed up in black robes for the confirmation hearing, razzing Ament about whether he knew which end of the cow stands up first. Entz later showed off a photo of a tree growing through a tractor on Ament’s farm, with Ament quipping that if Owens knew about it, he would never have appointed him ag commissioner.

Former U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner was elected to the state House in 2004. He recalled on X Thursday, “At my first water review meeting, Lew Entz asked me to get him coffee. He was surprised when I gave him a cup and then sat next to him. We spent 20 years laughing about that moment, and I still give him coffee whenever he wants. Colorado will you, Lew, thanks for a life of service.”

Entz was still out and about until close to the end of his life. In August, he attended a reunion of current and former lawmakers and friends at the home of former Rep. Mark Waller.

Former Denver Post reporter Lynn Bartels, who also attended the reunion, said that when Entz and former Sen. Norma Anderson greeted each other, someone commented, “two legends.”

Anderson and Entz served together in the state Senate and House, and sat next to each other in the Senate.

“Lewis was a true gentleman, and he knew water,” Anderson told Colorado Politics. “I used him so I could learn all about water.” 

She said Entz let her drive one of his big tractors on a visit to the Hooper farm. He was flying one day, looking for coyotes. He shot at the coyote and instead hit the propeller, knocking it off the plane. “I loved to tease him” about that, Anderson said.

“He was a wonderful person and a good legislator and really represented his district, which doesn’t always happen,” Anderson said. As to the alligator story, “that’s him representing his district,” she said.

Entz was diagnosed with cancer almost a year ago and had told Anderson he had only a year. He didn’t quite make a year, she said.

Senate and House Republicans offered their condolences Thursday.

Minority Leader Cleave Simpson stated, “Such an honorable public servant, I am so proud to have known him and work with him on important Valley issues. I work with folks at the Capitol today who still recall his legislative prowess and professionalism.” He also called Entz both a mentor and a “beacon for the San Luis Valley.”

“Senator Entz spent his life serving the people of Colorado, and we are grateful for the many years he committed to our state,” said House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell. “We thank him for his service to Colorado and extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”