Darrell Howe Mortuary

The History of Boulder County Rests Here: Paul H. Hummel

Paul H. Hummel was born on July 30, 1885, in Nortonville, KS. After graduating from Nortonville High School, he attended Milton College in WI. It was there he met his wife, Geneva Hakes. Following college, they moved to Sheridan Lake, CO to be near his parents who were homesteading there. In 1920, he purchased property in Boulder County where he would establish his Valmont Farms and Cattle Company. In 1933, he expanded his operation to include range cattle and began grazing them on forest service lands in the Roosevelt National Forest.

Paul was active in the Boulder Stockmen's Association, the Colorado Livestock Industry Council, and the Colorado Cattlemen's Association. He was also an influential voice as the ranchers debated with the National Forest Service about allowable numbers of cattle and locations that cattle might graze on forest service land. He was also involved in the range demonstration program of the early 1950's. Paul passed away on April 24, 1969.

The History of Boulder County Rests Here: Alice Pfaff Seigal

Alice Cornelia Pfaff was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on January 14, 1954, to Mario and Marianne Pfaff. Alice was a gifted athlete and excelled at track. She was a member of the U.S. National Track Team in the 1970s, competing in a number of international events representing the United States. She became one of the best high jumpers in the world and won Gold for the United States on several occasions.

Alice also loved animals, and in 1981, she earned her doctorate from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University. Shortly after graduating, she realized her dream of owning a veterinary hospital in Boulder. Even after graduating and operating the hospital, she continued to study and soon became the first woman in the State of Colorado to be board-certified with the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, Specialty Small Animals. Later, she became the first woman in Colorado to be inducted into the Rotary Club in 1987. In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Rotary Club could not exclude qualified women, and shortly thereafter, Alice was invited to join. It would be another two years before the international body would lift the ban worldwide.

Alice was well respected by her peers and those in the Boulder business community. She won the Small Business of the Year Award from the Boulder Chamber of Commerce and the Veterinary Economic Hospital Design Award. She was voted Best Veterinarian in the Boulder Daily Camera Best of Boulder Readers Choice Awards 10 years in a row. She was also inducted into the YWCA Hall of Fame as Entrepreneur of the Year. She was a very civic-minded person and worked with the Boulder Safe House for Women to care for the pets of battered women at no charge for any length of time as the women recovered.

Alice and her husband, Steven Seigal, had four children. After selling her clinic in 2001, she dedicated her energy to raising the two children she and her husband adopted, as well as helping her community by volunteering with organizations around Boulder. Tragically, Alice passed away at the young age of 59 on October 23, 2013. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. She was laid to rest in the lovely Green Mountain Cemetery.