Andrew Thomas Estes Jr. (Tom), 81, of Yampa, Colorado passed away on January 27, 2022 at his home surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Eloise and his brother Walter Estes of Ottumwa, Iowa. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Nancy Faye Estes, a grandson John Little, and a great grandson Andrew Estes.

Tom was born on November 1, 1940 to Andrew Thomas Estes Sr. and Ida Elizabeth Johnson Estes in Ottumwa, Iowa.  Tom attended Davis County High School and graduated from Blakesburg High where he met and married Eloise Joann Leffler on June 5, 1960. They were married for 61 years and were blessed with 3 children Brenda Little, Karen Kowach (Rod), and Rodney Estes (Tammy). Tom also had 8 grandchildren Casey, Holly, Alex, Nick, Josh, Frankie, Ricky, and Mariah and 11 great grandchildren Gracie, Zach, Serina, Johnny, Landon, Shaylee, Lane, Laynee, Kyla, Bradley, and Aubrey.

Tom and Eloise raised their children on a dairy farm in Iowa. During the day when he wasn't milking the dairy cows, growing crops, and running the farm, he was driving the school bus for Blakesburg Schools. He was also on the Blakesburg School District board and a 4-H club leader. Besides his children he helped several others with 4-H projects and of course showing Ayrshires at the local fair. Then, in 1985 Tom and Eloise decide to sell their dairy farm and move to Yampa, Colorado. Within the next few years his kids moved to Colorado to be closer to their parents.

After moving to Colorado Tom opened a feed store called Circle E Ranch Supply. Along with a tire shop next door where he worked on vehicles and tractors. At the same time, he ran both businesses with his wife Eloise and purchased a local trash/recycling company with his son Rodney and drove the South Routt school bus for over 15 years. Because of the kind of man Tom was, his work didn't stop there. He was also a volunteer fire fighter, drove the Yampa ambulance, and was the Mayor of Yampa off and on for several years. Even though Tom stopped working at the tire shop, his legacy continued on with his son Rodney and grandsons.

Even after retirement he still enjoyed being present to watch all the work they did and continued to teach Nick everything he knew.  They had a special bond and Tom adored every minute spent watching Nick work and play sports. Eloise and Tom were always front and center to all sporting events for their grandchildren. Tom loved spending the summers in the hayfield where he taught almost all his children and grandchildren to drive a tractor and even when he couldn't drive tractors anymore he was right there with Nick taking him back and forth to the fields. Tom really enjoyed his life especially time spent traveling to Arizona, Texas, and Wyoming to visit his grandchildren and their families. He didn't have a lot of down time with everything he has done in his life, but he did enjoy having coffee with the local ranchers at the coffee shop, watching some of his favorite shows like Gunsmoke, and of course any John Wayne movies. Everyone knew Tom loved to make ornery comments to always try and make us smile, but we always knew it came from a place of love. Because the next day he would turn around and tell his friends the stories of how proud he was of his family.

Tom and Eloise built a beautiful family and they both set a standard that we all choose to live by because we all appreciated their family values and wanted to make them both proud!

Tom will be deeply missed by everyone and we all look forward to seeing him again someday!