Former state Rep. Joe Nuñez, 83, a Douglas County Republican, died from COVID-19 on Nov. 16; his wife, Lilly, 82, died from the same cause on Nov. 10.

A joint visitation for Joe and Lilly will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the Horan & McConaty Funeral Home at 5303 East County Line Road in Centennial. It will be followed by a joint funeral mass at Pax Christi Catholic Church in Highlands Ranch at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Both will be laid to rest on Dec. 4 at 1:30 p.m. at Fort Logan Military Cemetery, with full military honors for Joe, a 20-year Air Force veteran.

Grandson Matt Nuñez, in a series of tweets, said “I cannot overstate how brutal this disease is. I just hope and pray deeply that others take seriously the public health orders designed to reduce spread. Forego one holiday season without grandparents so that you can experience a few more. Please.”

Both were stalwarts of the Colorado GOP. Most recently, Joe and Lilly were elected to attend the Republican National Convention in April; Joe as a delegate and Lilly as an alternate.

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, chair of the Colorado Republican Party, said in a statement that “Joe and Lilly Nuñez were trailblazers for the Colorado Republican Party. They both spent decades fighting for Republican candidates, conservative causes, and working to make Colorado an even better place to live and raise a family. Joe and Lilly dedicated their lives to making our state and country a better place for all, they will both be dearly missed.”

Joe was a delegate to the Republican National Convention five times, including in 2020, and attended nine national conventions in all, starting in 1984.

Lilly was a delegate to three national conventions, including in 2016, and served on a variety of RNC committees throughout the years. She was the first elected national committeewoman for the Colorado Republican Party in 2000, a role in which she continued to serve until 2016.

José (Joe) Cleto Nuñez was born April 5, 1937 in Greeley to Manuela Nuñez and Concepción Lopez. Joe graduated from Colorado State College of Education (later, the University of Northern Colorado) in 1959, earning a degree and teaching certificate. He was commissioned in the Air Force the same year and was a decorated Vietnam War veteran, earning numerous commendations, including the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm.

Lilly was born March 22, 1938 in Texas City, Texas, to Rafaela and Juan Yanas. She and Joe met while Joe was on assignment at Ellington Air Force Base in Texas and Lilly was a civil service employee at the base. They married in 1961 and celebrated 59 years of marriage earlier this year.

After 20 years in the Air Force, Joe retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, about the same time they moved to Colorado.

It was Lilly who first became politically active early on, according to son John Nuñez. “Mom got hired to work on the staff of Sen. Bill Armstrong” shortly before Joe retired from the Air Force. It was Bill who drew them into the party, and “they loved it,” John said. “Both took their roles with the national committee very seriously.”

Dick Wadhams first met Lilly when he and Lilly worked in Armstrong’s office, her in Denver, him in Pueblo. Joe and Lilly became leaders in the Republican Party, although Lilly didn’t start off that way. Lilly worked for a Democratic congressman in Texas before they moved to Colorado, Wadhams said. “She was quite the presence in Armstrong’s office, he added.

“They were both pretty conservative,” according to Wadhams. When Joe was a state representative for House District 64, from 1999 to 2001, according to the state GOP website, he compiled the most conservative record of any member of the Colorado House. His legislation focused largely on reducing the state income tax rate and cutting the state budget, although those measures were not adopted by the legislature. Joe was named legislator of the year in 2001 by Colorado Right to Life, and with Lilly was given the Friends of Life Award in 2004, also from Colorado Right to Life. He was also a lifelong member of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association.

“It was my honor and privilege to serve with Joe Nuñez for two terms in the Colorado House of Representatives,” said former Speaker of the House Doug Dean, who was House Majority Leader during Nuñez’ time in the General Assembly. “Joe was a staunch conservative and principled leader for his constituents and the people of Colorado. His life was dedicated to defending our individual liberties as American citizens, and the state of Colorado has lost a tremendous couple with the passing of Joe and Lilly.”

Joe also helped craft the Republican Party platform in 2008, considered the most conservative platform ever at that time.

Joe stepped down from his House seat in December, 2001 to join the President George W. Bush administration as Denver regional director for the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. He served through the end of the Bush administration in that role. He also previously served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations as the Secretary’s representative for the Rocky Mountain Region of the Department of Labor.

In 1985, Lilly left Armstrong’s office to join the administration of President Ronald Reagan as special assistant to the regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. She was the SBA’s acting regional administrator under President George H.W. Bush until 1993.

Former state Rep. Ted Harvey succeeded Nuñez in the House. “We became very good friends in 1998” when Joe was running for the state House in Douglas County and Harvey was running, unsuccessfully for the state Senate , also in Douglas County. That relationship continued for 22 years, Harvey said. It continued when Joe decided to apply for a job in the George W. Bush administration, a process that Harvey helped guide in his work as district office manager for then-U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley of Colorado Springs.

Once that appointment came through, Harvey ran for Joe’s House seat. “He and I have been political allies, working on many fights over the years to push the conservative agenda in Colorado” as well as legislation at the state Capitol, Harvey said.

Joe and Lilly were “two of the greatest patriots our country has ever had. Joe is the definition of a patriot,” Harvey, himself a self-described Air Force brat, said, “and Lilly was always by his side. They were one of the most influential and powerful political teams and couples Colorado has ever had.”

they were most proud of their children and grandchildren, Harvey said. “That’s what mattered to them at the end — family — and if you ever talked to them it always came back to their grandkids and how proud they were of them. It was everything.”

Wadhams, who later served as state party chair, said that both Joe and Lilly were very active in trying to make the Republican Party welcoming to Hispanics. “They had a huge impact on the party,” he said. That included Joe’s service as chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Colorado from 1993 to 1997.

Former Colorado GOP spokesman Owen Loftus said that “as a Latino, I’m especially grateful for their leadership and encouragement. They paved the way for so many of us to succeed.”

Joe was very conservative and not at all shy in expressing those conservative beliefs, Wadhams said. “He brought special credibility because of his military background and his life story, and was able to articulate his conservative point of view in ways where others weren’t as effective.”

Former state Treasurer Walker Stapleton also expressed his condolences. in a tweet to Matt Nuñez. “Your Grandparents were patriots and great Coloradans. They were selfless servants of the state they loved for so many years. May they Rest In Peace – two lives well lived.”

Joe continued to voice those opinions until nearly the end. In August, he penned a column that ran in a number of newspapers, including the Colorado Springs Gazette, on the damage done to the state Capitol during the summer protests and what he called weak leadership by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Gov. Jared Polis.

Joe and Lilly are survived by their four children: John Michael Nuñez and his wife Kristen Nuñez of Monument, Daniel Nuñez of Littleton, Teresa Curtis of Frederick and Lili Nuñez Mueh and her husband Kurt Mueh of Colorado Springs; ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren with another on the way.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Joe’s honor to the Weld Community Foundation Community Impact Fund in Greeley. Memorial contributions in Lilly’s honor can be made to the Mt Carmel Veteran’s Service Center in Colorado Springs.