DENVER POST By Julia C. Martinez Wednesday, January 23, 2002 - John Arthur Love, Colorado's 36th governor and the nation's first energy czar, was remembered Tuesday as one of the state's most influential governors and a strong advocate for the environment. Love died in his sleep shortly after 11 p.m. Monday of pulmonary failure. He was 85. He had suffered a seizure Dec. 11 and was moved eight days later to Shalom Park nursing home in Aurora. His daughter, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis, was with him when he died, said Christine Burtt, spokeswoman for the family. "This was a very impressive man," said former Gov. Dick Lamm, who forged a friendship with Love over the years. "This was a man who marched to his own music. He was a very independent-minded Republican who loved the state of Colorado." In addition to his daughter, Love is survived by two sons, Daniel Arthur Love and Maj. Gen. John Andrew Love. The former governor's wife, Ann, died in 1999. A centrist Republican, Love was elected governor in 1962 in an upset over incumbent Gov. Steve McNichols. It was the first political office he ever held. He went on to become Colorado's first three-term governor, serving from 1963 until 1973, calmly ushering the state through the turbulent 1960s and into a period of solid economic growth. He championed environmental laws against a legislature that wasn't ready for such innovation, while trying to bring prosperity to Colorado. He pushed for tax cuts, economic expansion and public-school reform. He was the first governor to attract high-tech industries to Colorado, Hewlett-Packard and Kodak among them. Love was an early proponent of land-use controls, a difficult sell to conservative legislators of the time. More than a quarter century later, managing growth remains a predicament for today's lawmakers. In 1973, well into his third term, Love was appointed by President Richard Nixon as the nation's first director of the Energy Policy Office, a job created during the oil shortage. It later became a Cabinet-level post. He accepted the appointment but resigned a few months later, discouraged by Washington politics and explaining that he didn't have enough to do. In his book about Colorado's 36th governor, Donald L. Walker Jr. wrote that the energy job was a major mistake in Love's political career. He took the job without consulting anyone, assuming he would be as successful as a presidential adviser as he had been in Colorado politics. Though in the position only a short time, Love was unfairly blamed by the press for the government mishandling of the country's fuel resources, as the administration stood back. "For the only time in his life, he placed himself in the wrong place at the wrong time," Walker wrote. Before his run for governor, Love's only taste of politics came when he ran for the chairmanship of the Republican Central Committee in El Paso County and lost. "Based on that great track record, he decided he could run for governor," his son, Maj. Gen. Andy Love, the governor's middle child who heads the U.S. Space Command for the Colorado National Guard at NORAD, said with a chuckle. "I remember a guy who was incredibly lucky and incredibly gifted. He had a great sense of humor, a great presence and an intellect to go with it." A "voracious reader," his father loved history and had a gift for storytelling, he said. "He was one of those guys who could tell a story, with great entertainment value. He was very unique in that way," Andy Love said. "There aren't many people who can do that." One of his favorite stories was about Alfred Packer. "The reason he liked it so much, at least in his version of the story, was that the judge in Hinsdale County brought Packer up on charges," said Andy Love, recounting his father's tale. "During the hearing, the judge told Packer, "There used to be only nine Democrats in Hinsdale County and you son-of-a-gun ate seven of them .' Obviously the judge was a Democrat," he said, laughing. ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS Born in a farmhouse in Gibson City, Ill., Love moved to Colorado Springs in 1920. His father, Arthur Candee Love, brought his family to Colorado after being diagnosed with a respiratory ailment. Love attended public schools in Colorado Springs and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Denver. Love practiced law in Colorado Springs and in Denver, serving as counsel to the Denver firm of Davis, Graham & Stubbs. After leaving Washington, D.C., in 1973, he served on the board of Ideal Basic Industries Inc., maker of concrete and potash, eventually becoming its chairman. Tall and ruggedly handsome with a deep voice, Love often was compared to Hollywood actor William Holden. "My favorite quote was, "He looked more like William Holden than William Holden,' " Andy Love said. Though Love thought of himself as a Westerner, his son said a 1970 commercial that depicted the governor on horseback, outfitted in a cowboy hat and boots, did not personify his father. "A suit and tie is the look that best embodied him," he said. Love won many recognitions during his lifetime. In 1989 Love and his wife, Ann, won the Citizen of the West award. Gov. Bill Owens, the first Republican governor to be elected since Love, ordered flags at state buildings flown at half staff until after memorial services. "John Love epitomized the spirit of Colorado and the West," Owens said in a statement from Washington, D.C., where he is attending the Republican Governors Association conference. Bob Beauprez, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, called Love an icon and a politician with the "unique ability" to reach across party lines. "Even if you didn't agree with him, you had tremendous respect for him. In politics, we don't see that often enough," Beauprez said. "It's a sad day in Colorado to lose one of our principal leaders and one of the most decent, genuine individuals." John A. Love Born: Nov. 29, 1916 Birthplace: Gibson City, Ill. Family history: His great-grandfather first settled in Colorado in 1885. At age 5, Love moved with his parents to Colorado from Illinois because of his father's tuberculosis. Education: Graduated from the University of Denver, served as school newspaper editor and volunteered for Republican Alf Landon's presidential campaign against Franklin D. Roosevelt. Attended DU's law school from 1938-41, where he met his future wife, Ann Daniels. Personal history: Served as a U.S. Navy pilot in World War II and was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He left the Navy as a lieutenant commander, then opened a law firm in Colorado Springs. He and Ann had three children, Dan, Andy and Becky. Ann died in 1999. Love worked his way through DU by washing dishes, peeling potatoes and delivering food to the tuberculosis ward at Denver General Hospital. Political history: Colorado governor from 1963-73. Served as President Richard Nixon's director for the Office of Energy Policy. Life after politics: CEO of Ideal Basic Industries; taught history at the University of Northern Colorado; served as an adviser to the law firm Davis, Graham & Stubbs and trustee of the University of Denver. Love served Colorado during some of its most tumultuous times. His political successes were many, according to political observers. Among them: He conducted a "Sell Colorado" campaign that lured hundreds of businesses to Colorado, created tens of thousands of jobs and propelled the state "into the mainstream of national life," according to a 1989 quote from his daughter, Rebecca Love Kourlis. He signed the Colorado Air and Water Pollution Act to eliminate pollution and protect the environment. He increased state support for public schools and universities; increased scholarships and tuition waivers for college students. He successfully pushed for a 15 percent income-tax cut 16 days after taking office on a promise to cut taxes. He later was criticized by political opponents for negating the tax cut through a series of smaller tax increases.