When the 111th Congress of the United States is sworn in next January, it will be without one of Colorado’s finest public servants. Wayne Allard is retiring from public life after a quarter century of service to his native Colorado.
Born near Walden into a ranching family, Wayne received a doctorate in veterinarian medicine at Colorado State University in 1968 and along with his wife, Joan, started a veterinary practice from scratch in Loveland. He served in the Colorado State Senate from 1983-1990, the United States House from 1991-1996, and the Senate for two full terms from 1996 to the present.
Wayne is the consummate citizen legislator. Colorado owes her limited state legislative session of 120 days to Wayne’s leadership. Once elected to Congress, he still spent every possible day back in the state often holding one of his more than 700 town meetings in every county of Colorado staying in touch with the people and the way of life back home.
Raised in true western conservative tradition, Wayne took those values to Congress and established a reputation as one of the best guardians of the taxpayer’s dollars. A true champion of limited government, fiscal restraint, and a belief in the greatness of the everyday people made Wayne a far too rare commodity in Washington.
Most telling about the quality and character of Wayne is that he never caught the Potomac Fever in Washington – he never lost his roots. The old timers in rural Jackson County who knew Wayne as a school kid provide the best compliment he could ever receive. After being one of just 100 Senators and rubbing elbows with Presidents and Prime Ministers, they’ll tell you, “He’s still just Wayne – hasn’t changed a bit.”
Wayne and Joan plan to spend a lot of time at their cabin near Walden, much of it built by Wayne himself, once he is officially retired from the Senate. They’ll get to enjoy their grandchildren and be right back to those roots that were never far away. To know Wayne Allard and witness his dedicated, principled commitment to public service was to have your faith in the goodness of people and the greatness of America restored every single day. Would that we could have a lot more just exactly like him.