Wallingford/Jarlov Family Trees

Visitor died in mountains he cherished

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 8, 2006 by R. SCOTT RAPPOLD THE GAZETTE

In late September, Hurricane Rita was bearing down on Houston and Johnny Roberson's family.

The 76-year-old was on vacation in Colorado, but he called his daughter every day to make sure she was OK. Sharon Johnson and her family thought of fleeing Houston, but a sea of humanity on the highways kept them home.

As it turned out, the storm missed them on Sept. 23. Tragedy still struck this family, not from the ocean, but from the mountains.

Roberson died Sept. 25 when his car plunged 400 feet into a chasm near the summit of Pikes Peak. It took rescue workers hours to reach the mangled Hyundai Sonata.

The place is known as the Bottomless Pit.

"Daddy had been all over the mountains. He was a safe driver," Johnson said.

A retired estimator for a Houston iron works company, Roberson was in Colorado to attend a square-dancing function in Estes Park.

"Daddy had square-danced from one side of the nation to the other," Johnson said.

After he arrived in Estes Park, he decided the mountains were so beautiful, the aspen so chromatic, he'd stay a while.

"Every time he called he said, 'The leaves, it's just so pretty.' So he was having a good time," she said.

At some point, he decided to visit Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Highway.

About 1 p.m., on his return to the city, his car plunged off a cliff about 1,500 feet below the summit. A witness told police the car was "crawling," as if in slow motion, before rolling over the side.

It was the second traffic fatality on the mountain highway last year.

Henry J. Bresciani, 67, of Colorado Springs, was struck by a race car near the summit during the Falken Tire Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 21. He was a veteran race official, hit while serving as the finish-line flagman.

Investigators don't know what made Roberson go over the side. Colorado Springs police Sgt. Colin Low said he died from injuries in the crash, and not an existing medical condition. Tests showed his brakes were working.

Johnson believes her father, who had a history of heart trouble, may have been suffering from altitude sickness from being above 14,000 feet.

Johnson, who lived in Parker for 20 years before moving to Houston three years ago, said her family recently sold property they owned in Florissant.

Pikes Peak was visible from the land. She hasn't returned to Colorado.