mmccolm@valleypublishinginc.com 

MONTE VISTA-There is something special about a small town. 

It isn't found only in the quiet beauty of the San Luis Valley, where the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountains rise above fields, rivers and endless skies. It isn't simply the historic buildings that have stood watch over generations or the familiar streets where neighbors still wave as they pass. 

Its true beauty is found in the people. 

That thought surfaced time and again as Bill and Tami Fassett reflected on their lives during a recent Once Upon a Time in Monte Vista interview. 

Throughout their interview, the couple laughed often, finished one another's sentences, smiled as they looked all around, and shared memories that stretched back in their lives for generations.  

They spoke about growing up in Monte Vista, raising a family, opening their home to students from around the world and discovering that, after nearly 60 years together, the greatest blessings in life aren't measured by careers or accomplishments but by the people who share the journey with you. 

"We have lived a very blessed life," Tami said with a smile. "It's just been magical." 

Bill looked toward his wife before quietly adding, "I'm very grateful for this lady." 

In those few words, they summed up a lifetime together. 

Their story began long before careers, or retirement. 

The couple began seeing each other when Bill was a freshman at Monte Vista High School, and Tami was in the eighth grade. 

"This October it'll be 60 years," Bill said with a grin. "We've been married for 53." 

Both grew up in Monte Vista surrounded by families whose roots run deep in the San Luis Valley. 

Bill is a fourth-generation Monte Vista resident whose family's history dates back to the early days of the town. His great-grandmother, Lillian Taylor, later married Charles Fassett, and together they built what became the historic Fassett Department Store. According to Bill, for generations, the store stood on the corner of First Avenue and Adams Street, serving Valley families before closing in 1979. Although the building later survived a devastating fire, it remains one of downtown Monte Vista's most recognizable landmarks and a reminder of the family's long connection to the community. 

Tami's roots run just as deep. 

She grew up in a family well known throughout the Valley as the owners of Mathias Concrete, where she later worked in the office after returning home. She also spoke proudly of the generations of her family who graduated from Monte Vista High School, saying those deep family ties gave her an appreciation for the community and the values that have helped shape her life. 

Like many young people, Bill also once wondered what life beyond the Valley might hold. 

After graduating from Monte Vista High School in 1970, he attended the University of Colorado before transferring to Colorado State University, where he earned a degree in finance. 

"I attended college, but I knew I always wanted to come back home," Bill said. 

That opportunity came in 1976 when he returned to Monte Vista to begin what would become a 40-year career in banking. He spent nearly three decades at the Bank of Monte Vista before completing his career with San Luis Valley Federal Bank, where he also served on the board of directors. 

Tami's path took a different direction. 

After attending college in Greeley and later Colorado State University, she wasn't sure where life would lead. She too took business classes under the guidance of her mother, but upon returning to Monte Vista, she received an amazing invitation from a long-time Monte Vista educator who invited her to help with a school theater production position. 

"I just fell in love with working with the kids," Tami recalled. 

Tami then returned to school to earn her teaching degree and went on to teach in Center and Monte Vista, directing more than 40 high school plays during her career. 

Looking back, she laughed as she remembered her years in the classroom. 

"Some students thought I was wonderful," she said with a smile. "Others probably couldn't wait to get out of my class. But if you're making everybody happy, you're probably doing something wrong." 

Although their careers were different, both agreed they found joy in helping others. 

Yet as the conversation continued, it became clear that neither measured success by titles or careers. 

Instead, every conversation seemed to circle back to family. 

Whenever they talked about their daughter, Molly, their faces lit up. 

They spoke proudly of the caring woman she has become and of the values she carries with her today, values they believe were shaped by growing up in a home where serving others wasn't something you talked about. It was simply the way life was lived. Tami and Bill are proud of their daughter’s many accomplishments, and her career that has always led her to be a part of helping her community, 

Community service became a natural extension of the lives Bill and Tami built together. 

For decades, both were active in the Monte Vista Rotary Club, where Bill followed three generations of Fassett’s before him. Through Rotary, the couple also welcomed eight foreign exchange students into their home from countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Turkey, Namibia, South Africa and England. 

"Everybody should have the opportunity to experience another culture," Tami said. "Or to have someone from another culture become part of your family." 

Bill agreed, saying the students enriched their lives every bit as much as they hoped they enriched the students'. 

The experience eventually inspired Molly to also spend a year as a Rotary exchange student in Australia. 

"It nearly killed me putting her on that plane," Tami admitted with a laugh. "But it was one of the best things Molly ever did." Tami stated her daughter came back very mature for her age, and she felt the experience helped Molly, by helping her to see how other cultures lived.  

That spirit of caring also found its way into another unexpected chapter of the couples’ lives. They also became adopted grandparents.  

One night, years ago, family friends asked if Bill and Tami would watch their young son, Ira, while they went out to dinner. 

One evening turned into another. 

Soon there were overnight visits, weekends together and family vacations. Before long, Ira and his younger brother, Ellis, had become part of the Fassett family, and Bill and Tami had become adopted grandparents. 

Today, the boys lovingly call them "Mimi" and "Papa." 

"They've added so much joy to our lives," Tami said. 

Bill laughed as he shared one of the family's favorite jokes. 

"Papa doesn't always make good choices." 

Those "choices," he admitted, usually involve rides on the lawnmower, or finding another adventure the boys are more than willing to join. 

Retirement has also brought another season of gratitude to both Bill and Tami. 

Although the couple now spends several months each year in Sedona, Arizona, where they purchased a townhouse, escaping the Valley's cold winters and spring winds, Monte Vista has never stopped feeling like home to them. 

For Tami, the answer is simple. 

"The people," she said. 

Smiling, she recalled the old song Dear Hearts and Gentle People, saying it has always reminded her of Monte Vista and the kindness she has experienced throughout her life. 

Bill agreed. 

"I've just really had a strong sense that this is my home," she said. "And it always will be." 

They spoke fondly of mornings with coffee on the patio, evenings with friends, community theater, Rotary projects, Chapman Park, local concerts, enjoying dinners with their daughter Molly and her husband TJ who both live close by, and the simple pace of life that has kept drawing them back, even after traveling elsewhere, and living elsewhere for part of the year too. 

When asked what advice they would offer someone considering a move to Monte Vista, Tami didn't hesitate. 

She encouraged newcomers to volunteer, join local organizations, support community events and take time to discover everything the valley and the community has to offer. 

"If you're waiting for things to come to you," she said, "you're going to be bored." 

Then she smiled. 

"You'll get out of it what you put into it." 

As the interview came to a close, the conversation drifted from stories about old Monte Vista to laughter over their beloved dog, Izzy, who dislikes fireworks so much that the couple now leaves town every Fourth of July so Izzy can escape the noise. 

They joked about knee replacements, old friends and the changes they’d witnessed over the years, stating that through it all the gratitude they felt for the life they had built together was simply priceless. 

Listening to Bill and Tami, it became clear that their story isn't defined by careers, or even generations of family history. 

It is defined by their kindness, their service, their friendships, and by the marriage that they have that has quietly stood the test of time.  

For nearly six decades, they have loved one another with the same steady devotion they have shown their hometown, proving that a meaningful life isn't measured by recognition or achievement but by the people whose lives you touch along the way. 

Perhaps that's why Monte Vista has never simply been the place where Bill and Tami Fassett have lived. 

It has been the place where they had their daughter, served a community, became adopted grandparents, and created a lifetime of memories together. 

And in the end, Tami's simple answer said it best, and meant the most. 

"The people," she said with a smile. "That's what has made Monte Vista our home. The people.”