Lakewood - Brothers Redevelopment

Robert Montour’s life changed forever when his father was killed in World War II after a destroyer ship he was on was sunk in Okinawa — a Japanese prefecture.

Montour, who was only 10 when his father was killed in 1945, knew he was destined to serve in the Navy. So as soon as he turned 16, he packed his bags and ventured off to boot camp before eventually serving in the Korean War.

“My dad being killed kind of guided me toward wanting to get into the service,” said Montour, who is now 87 and lives alone in his longtime Lakewood home. “I could not wait to get in.”

When he came home, Montour married his late wife and had six children. He moved temporarily to California to take a painter’s apprenticeship, after which he worked for 41 years as a commercial painter. His career included time spent painting many of the skyscrapers in downtown Denver when they were first constructed.

But even Montour — who has worked with his hands all his life — admits that he needs help with upkeeping his home. The exterior of his house was beginning to deteriorate, and he needed modifications and repairs for his home to continue to age in place.

Thankfully, Montour learned of Brothers Redevelopment’s Paint-A-Thon after he saw a flyer about the service at his barbershop in August. So, he applied for the program, and two weeks later, a group of Wells Fargo volunteers came to paint Montour’s home and visit with him and his family. Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul and Lakewood City Councilmember Rebekah Stewart also visited the site to see the paint job and visit with Montour.

His home is one of three houses Wells Fargo painted through the Paint-A-Thon and is part of the company’s Welcome Home Initiative — an enterprise-wide employee engagement initiative that aims to support Wells Fargo’s commitment to affordable and sustainable housing.

Later this year, thanks to funding from Wells Fargo, Brothers will also provide Montour with a step-in shower, a new back door, and repairs for his home.

“I don’t like to be dependent on anybody — but I appreciate the help,” said Montour. “I appreciate someone being concerned about me and my well-being.”

Thank you Brothers Redevelopment, Inc. and Wells Fargo for helping this Korean War Veteran and his amazing family….

Posted by Mayor Adam Paul on Saturday, September 17, 2022

I feel so lucky to have been invited along with Mayor Adam Paul to the home of one of my constituents whose home was…

Posted by Councilwoman Rebekah Stewart on Saturday, September 17, 2022

Life hasn’t necessarily been easy for 72-year-old Linda Marquez the past four years.

The Lakewood resident lost her son Marcus in 2017 after he passed away due to a long battle with a brain tumor — leaving behind his now three-year-old son Atticus. Atticus’s mother wanted him to stay with Marquez because of complicated issues, and when she was faced with the challenge to raise her grandson, Marquez stood up.

For the past four years, Marquez has raised Atticus alone and plans to continue doing so until she is no longer physically able to. She said he is a friendly, smart boy who recently finished his first year of preschool.

“My Atticus is my life saver, because if I didn’t have him, I would be alone. He keeps me moving,” said Marquez. “I decided when my son died, I wouldn’t let anybody take him away from me. I can’t do my yard work or paint my beautiful house now — but I can take care of him day by day.”

Thanks to Brothers Redevelopment’s Paint-A-Thon Program — a free service where volunteers paint the outside of homes for low-income and disabled seniors — Marquez doesn’t have to worry about painting her house anymore.

Paint-A-Thon volunteers from Pinkard Construction, a construction company based in Lakewood, were at Marquez’s house on June 11 to update it with a new paint job that she has long dreamed for.

“It looks beautiful,” said Marquez, who noted that she never liked the color of her house before until it was recently painted. “It looks lighter, cleaner, and I don’t have all those chips and spots anymore. I’m grateful because I don’t know how I would’ve ever done this.”

2021 marks the second year Pinkard Construction has volunteered for the Paint-A-Thon. Christine Fuentes, a Pinkard Construction employee who volunteered to paint Marquez’s house, said the company gives its employees three paid days to volunteer for different causes.

“What’s nice about working with Brothers is they make it easy for the company because they provide all the information, they communicate with you, they help you decide what project would be good for the number of volunteers you have, they provide the material — everything that needs to be done to do a project like this. It makes it easy for us to promote it to our employees and to get the job done,” said Fuentes. “It’s kind of a turn the key thing.

Korean War Veteran receives helping hand from Paint-A-Thon

Paint-A-Thon leaves its mark in Lakewood