Anthony Marvin Jennings Sr., known to many simply as Tony, passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of August 24, 2026, at his home near Saguache, Colorado. He was surrounded by the love of his life, wife Deanna and his children. Tony had had a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 78 years old.

Tony was born May 5, 1948, in Thermopolis, Wyoming, to Dwayne and Lois Jennings. He grew up alongside his siblings Faith, Dolores “Dee,” Dwayne “Pudd,” and Greg, as well as his older half-sister, Margaret “Mitzie,” and half-brothers Jimmy, Bobby, and David. Tony graduated from Leadville High School in Leadville, Colorado, where he met his first wife, Nancy, and together they had two children. Tony and Nancy later divorced; Nancy passed away in 2012.

Straight out of high school, he went to work at the Climax Mine, a job he would hold into the early 1990s. To help make ends meet along the way, he also worked at a full-service gas station in Leadville, where he discovered a lifelong love of working on cars — a skill that would come to define much of his life. He proved to be a gifted mechanic, with a rare ability to fix almost anything with an engine.

During the mine layoffs of the 1980s, Tony never sat idle. He purchased timber rights on state and federal land and cut posts, poles, and firewood to support his family. During another layoff he returned to working in a garage in Salida. When he was laid off for the final time, he enrolled in school in Denver and became an ASE Master Mechanic. He returned to Salida to work at Salida Auto Repair, and eventually bought the shop, running it in downtown Salida for 18 years.

In 1975, Tony moved his family to Buena Vista, and in 1999 he relocated to the San Luis Valley. Even after selling his shop in Salida, he never stopped turning wrenches, continuing to work on cars in his own shop at his home near Saguache. In May of 2021, he married his wife, Deanna.

Tony was an avid outdoorsman his entire life. He grew up hunting and fishing around Leadville and never gave it up — he was still out hunting as recently as last November. When it came to fishing, Tony was never chasing the biggest catch, he wanted to be the one who caught the most. Some of those fish were only four inches long, but in his mind, every single one counted.

His love of the outdoors started with a passion for Jeeps, taking them to places most people would never dare go, before he discovered that pickups could hold their own off-road and had a lot more room to haul his gear. Trucks became a lifelong passion. He started out collecting old Ford trucks from the late ’60s and early ’70s, and later turned his attention to Dodges with Cummins diesels.

But more than trucks, Tony collected friends. Everyone who knew him would tell you the same thing: he was the kind of man who would give you the shirt off his back and the shoes off his feet if you needed them. Tony is preceded in death by his parents, Dwayne and Lois Jennings; his siblings Faith and Dwayne “Pudd”; his half-sister, Margaret “Mitzie,” and half-brothers Jimmy, Bobby, and David; and his first wife, Nancy. He is survived by his wife, Deanna Jennings; his two children, Anthony “Tiger” Jennings Jr. and LeeAnn; his stepson, Michael; his seven grandchildren, Josh Huling, Richelle Pinson, Tim Huling, Tanner Jennings, Torsten Jennings, Tess Jennings, and Mikeyla; and his four great-grandchildren, Zack, Ciera, Ever, and Samuel.

Tony will be remembered as a hardworking, generous, and endlessly capable man — a mechanic who could fix anything, an outdoorsman who never stopped chasing the next ridge or riverbend, and a friend to everyone who crossed his path. Viewing will take place from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM on Saturday August 29, 2026 at Lewis and Glenn Funeral Home. Service will follow at 1:00 PM. Interment will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Buena Vista, CO. Online condolences may be sent to the family at lewisandglenn.com. Arrangements are with Lewis and Glenn Funeral Home.

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