Bio - Edeen, Jessie and David, West Vail, Eagle County, Colorado By: Jean Winthers Jessie Edeen Printed in Vail Daily, Local's Corner, November 8, 1999 Jessie Edeen, life-long West Vail resident, doesn't have far to go to find her roots. Jessie, her husband David, and two sons live just across the road from where Jessie grew up in West Vail. The Edeen's home is next door to the Black Bear Inn, which David and Jessie own and built on land purchased from her grandmother, Pauline Ruder Elliott. And next door to the Inn is the old log ranch house built by Jessie's grandparents. Edeen's roots in the area go back yet another generation to her great-grandparents, who came to Minturn from Minnesota in the late 1880s to work on the railroad. Their daughter, Pauline, was just six-months old at the time. They homesteaded in West Vail and when Pauline grew up and married Henry Elliott in 1912, the young couple built the log home still standing in good repair on Gore Creek next to the Black Bear Inn. "My grandmother was a very strong woman," Edeen said. "She had all her six children in that house, and was never in a hospital until she died when she was 88 years old." Edeen's father is Richard Elliott, the youngest of the family. He grew up in the old log home, and when he married Lorraine Sewald from the Sterling area, they built a home on the north side of Gore Creek. Jessie and her sister were born in the Gilman Hospital, the only one in the area at the time, and Jessie attended elementary and middle school in Minturn, seventh grade in Red Cliff and then Battle Mountain High School. "Going to Denver was a challenge when I was a kid," Edeen said. "That was long before the days of Interstate 70 and you had to go over Loveland Pass. That was always an adventure." Edeen attended Colorado Women's College in Denver, now a part of Denver University, and graduated with a degree in political science and political studies. She spent a year in Vienna going to school and practicing her German.Then Edeen returned to the U.S. and married her finance, David Edeen, from Denver, whom she had met while he was working at a summer job in Vail. "David liked Vail and wanted to live here, and of course I liked it too," Edeen said. For the next 18 years, David worked for Vail Associates. Meanwhile, Jessie worked for the FirstBank of Vail then for Vail Associates. Then their first son, William, was born. "I quit working and became a full-time mom," Edeen said. William is now a senior at the Colorado School of Mines, where he is completing two engineering degrees, civil and mechanical. The Edeens' second son, Richard, is a freshman at the University of Colorado, where he is working toward a degree in kinesiology in the athletics training department. Being a full-time mom meant attending every athletic event their sons were involved in and they were involved in every sport available, including hockey, skiing, tennis and golf. The boys also liked to fish hunt, hike and bike. "We are going through our first season with no highschool athletics to attend," Edeen said. "But it was wonderful for them growing up here with all the sports and other opportunities. My parents lived here until the boys were both in high school, and my father did a lot with them. They are both wonderful grandparents." Then ten years ago, the Edeens decided to build the Black Bear Inn. "David was ready for something different, and getting a little tired of the corporate life," Jessie said. "We looked at different things, but decided the Inn would be a good investment. We bought Grandmother's last eight acres, and had it rezoned." They decided on a log building, although Edeen said, "At first I didn't want logs. The log homes I'd been in as a child were all so dark and gloomy. So we researched the log home industry, and found finishes that would keep the logs light. Then we used a lot of white walls inside to lighten up the interior. I did the financing and paper work, and David was the general contractor. "The logs are all from Eagle County, and are all 100-year-old dead standing Engleman Spruce. None of them were living trees," Edeen said. "The woodwork is all hand-done, and David made all the bedsteads It took them six weeks to make the stairway alone because of the difficulty in fitting the logs." The 12-room Inn, one of its kind in Vail, opened in February, 1991."When you work with a spouse you need a division of labor," Edeen said. "David runs the kitchen and the menu and I do the paperwork, the reservations and the front desk work." The Edeens have a very capable staff of three to help them. "We all do the cooking, cleaning, reservations, everything," Jessie said. The Inn features a full breakfast including cereal, granola, muffins and bagels as well as one hot entree that varies every day, and one sweet bread and one toast bread, which the staff bakes themselves daily. In the afternoon hors d'oeuvres and beverages are served, and coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cookies, are always available. The luxurious double rooms all have private baths, phones and computer hookups. Television is available in the sitting room and the game room downstairs. Rates run from a low of $105 for a double room to $225 at Christmas. For more information on the Black Bear Inn call (970)476-1304. David, "a man of many talents," as his wife calls him, is now finishing a two-year remodeling project on their own home, and when that is done, the Edeens hope to find some time to "go back to life as it was before - playing tennis, traveling, and just enjoying living." =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.