Home of: Rosa Lee Neiberger

RANGELY | Longtime Rangely resident Rosa Lee Neiberger is this week’s “home of” honoree. She moved to Rangely in 1953 with her parents, Joe and Rowena Gurr. Her father drove trucks for B&M Garage, Arnold Weise and P.I.E. Trucking.
She met her late husband John Neiberger when they were students at Rangely High School. She married John in 1961. They were married 42 years when he passed away in 2003.
After high school, John worked on several oil rigs near Rangely. John started working for Centralift in 1965 until January 1981. They lived in Farmington, N.M., Cody, Wyo., Midland, Texas, and in Rangely twice during his Centralift career.
John and Rosa Lee have three sons: Benny Joe, wife Connie and their son Steve of Rangely; Ty, wife Kelli and children Johnathan and Shelby also of Rangely; and son John Kirk and children Jack and Kate of Henderson.
John and Rosa Lee started NT Applied Coating in 1973 and Carquest Auto Parts in 1995. Following John’s death, NT Applied Coating was sold to Benny Joe and Connie and Carquest to Ty and Kelli.
Besides helping with their businesses, Rosa Lee worked from 1985 to 1995 for Blue Mountain Energy as receptionist/secretary and later in its insurance and human resource departments. “I currently work a half day a week at Carquest in the office, as a counter person or delivering parts,” Rosa Lee stated.
John and Rosa Lee raced and raised Quarter horses. “We moved to our ranch in 1985 and bought our first race horse in 1985 or 1986 and the last one in 2003. We raised 20 to 25 Quarter horses during that time. We hired a trainer and went to races in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming and California. We had one horse that won four races straight at Arapaho Park in Denver and she also won a big race in Santa Fe. That was so exciting. We had a lot of fun,” explained Rosa Lee.
“Now, I love to quilt and go camping, hunting and travel and do about anything like that with my family and friends,” Rosa Lee said.
“Rangely has friendly people who are helpful and caring. I have some of the best neighbors in the world. Rangely is just a homey community. It’s a wonderful place to raise your kids. My boys are all outdoorsy. They love to fish and hunt. Our vacation was always during hunting season. You don’t have to go so far to go on vacation as what we like to do is nearby,” concluded Rosa Lee.