Colorado College Bulletin

The Queen Turns 90

By Barry Noreen
Reprinted by permission of the Gazette

Colorado College's first homecoming queen turned 90 in January, but she's still not finished taking classes. Dorothy Conover loves to travel and learn about the Southwest. She took a cruise to the Arctic last year, and she tracks Wall Street online.

Colorado Springs has changed a lot since Conover (then Dorothy Smith) met her future husband, Ken Pomeroy, the CC Tiger halfback who was described as "elusive" and "brilliant" in the newspapers of the day.

Conover, class of '34, came to CC from Denver with a partial scholarship, having worked as a Western Union clerk the year before, in 1929. She has fond memories of Colorado Springs. "At that time, it was much more of a cosmopolitan place than Denver. Colorado College had a great impact on the whole culture," she said.

She later earned a master's degree in education from Whittier College and taught for 25 years. She became well- traveled in the West, living on a ranch in Wyoming and in Breckenridge, long before it became a ski resort. 

She recalls a return trip to Breckenridge: "I found the house we lived in, but they added a garage and there's indoor water." She and Pomeroy raised three sons.

After Pomeroy’s death years ago, the homecoming queen kept coming back to college reunions, and at the age of 80 she re-encountered another CC classmate whom she had dated, Paul Conover. They married, and Dorothy once again lived in Colorado Springs.

Her second husband also has died, but she's still surrounded by family, and she stays on the move. "I belong to the 50-Year Club," she said, alluding to a CC organization. "I always go to a lot of music functions."

How does one remain so lively at 90? She never smoked and says she never drank much after an unpleasant encounter with a college chum's flask.

About 25 family members and friends will help celebrate her 90th birthday and a life well-lived. They key to happiness? Take it from a homecoming queen: "Take responsibility for yourself."

Back to Index