Nicholas Angelo, a former mayor of Lyons who died Feb. 19 at age 76, is remembered by his friends and colleagues for having extensive knowledge of Lyons’ local government and his love for books, music and baseball.

James Davis, a Lyons resident and friend of Angelo, said while Angelo will always be remembered for his involvement in the Lyons political scene, family was always first for him.

Davis, a Lyons builder and contractor who was friends with Angelo for about 10 years, recalled helping Angelo plant flowers in his yard last summer in preparation of Angelo’s wife returning home from a trip.

The two bonded over their shared love of music, Davis said, and Angelo sold prints, books and art in town.

“Dude was loving life, his kids and his grandkids. He just ate everything up. He got his fill,” Davis said. “Yeah, don’t waste a minute. As far as Lyons goes, it will be a long time before there’s another person who is as deep in the lore of Lyons. He knew everything.”

Born in New York, Angelo moved to Denver in his adolescent years and attended Denver’s East High School.

In the 1970s, Angelo ran a Boulder guitar store called Nick the Greek’s Music Store on Pearl Street, before later moving to Lyons in 1984 where he opened the Nicholas Angelo Fine Art gallery, according to his wife, Candace Shepard.

Along with maintaining his presence in the art and music scene, Angelo also served as a Lyons trustee and as mayor, with his most recent mayoral term in 2020. Angelo served three terms as Lyons mayor, according to Shepard.

Mark Browning, a Lyons trustee who also served on the Lyons Planning and Community Building Development Commission with Angelo, said he first met Angelo after the 2013 Front Range flood. Browning said Angelo’s home was flooded by an overflowing nearby irrigation ditch, and as part of a volunteer team, Browning spent weeks shoveling mud out from Angelo’s basement.

The two grew closer when Angelo took on his third mayoral term in 2020, as Browning served as mayor pro-tem.

The pair oversaw the implementation of the Summit affordable housing project and secured 40 affordable housing units for the public, according to Browning. Angelo also encouraged the development of accessory dwelling units, such as mother-in-law units, to help curb the impacts the 2013 flood had on housing.

Browning said Angelo also secured funding for a pedestrian bridge and vehicle bridge that had been damaged by the floods to be rebuilt.

“Nick was very proud of those. Particularly, the pedestrian bridge helped reconnect the Confluence neighborhood to the rest of town because it had basically disconnected from when the flood happened … He regarded that as a big accomplishment, to get that bridge rebuilt,” Browning said.

Browning added that Angelo also pushed to ensure a percentage of the tax on recreational marijuana sales be allocated to mental health and drug counseling services in the town, as outlined in the original ordinance. Browning said for 2025, the Lyons Board of Trustees has approved funding for drug and mental health counseling services, through the Lyons Community Foundation.

“I think that was his last gift to Lyons, to get that program in place,” Browning said. “I think he would be happy that it’s now being done.”

Lyons Mayor Hollie Rogin said that when Angelo was elected mayor in April 2020, he helped lead the community through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I learned from him the importance of standing up for what I believe in, even if it’s not popular, which is something that he did — and also being able to change my opinion when presented with new information,” Rogin said.

Rogin said Angelo was incredibly bright, and she admired his dedication to local democracy. Davis shared similar sentiments, saying anyone could go to Angelo with questions or confusion regarding Lyons and receive an answer.

“For me, and possibly others, he was an oracle. He was like a touchstone,” Davis said.

He continued, “He knew more about (Lyons) than anybody. He was, for me at least, the backbone of Lyons politics. Not that he was really political, but he didn’t take any bull**** from anybody and saw the truth and tried to get to the heart of things, very tactfully and very diplomatically.”

Browning said Angelo, who was born in New York, often spoke of his love for the New York Yankees and would give Browning, a Houston Astros fan, books on baseball.

Browning said Angelo and his uniqueness fit well into Lyons, a town that, according to Browning, has a set of “characters.”

“We value our local characters and I would classify Nick as one of those,” Browning said.

When Angelo died, Shepard posted on Facebook that Angelo’s spirit animal was a hawk. Davis, who regularly walks by a body of water in Lyons, said he’s now reminded of Angelo when he sees owls and other birds of prey.

Shepard asks that donations be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Friends and family are invited to a memorial service for Angelo between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on April 26 at the Lyons Farmette.