I will miss my friend, Guenther Vogt, dearly

December 27, 2013

 

 

I am still reeling from this news from BJ Dyer, co-owner of Bouquets, my favorite flower shop:

“Two weeks ago, I took Guenther (Vogt) to St. Joe’s emergency room with trouble breathing. They found pneumonia in his lungs. Shortly later, they diagnosed the reason for the issue: AML leukemia. He’d had no prior issues or knowledge of it, and the blood tests at his annual physical in late summer showed no signs of any problem.

“After fighting the pneumonia, and going through a tough bout of chemo (7 days of 24-hour IV drip) he still was getting worse, and went into ICU on a ventilator. The doctors fought hard, but Guenther suffered through a lot … at one point was on 12 IV pumps. Finally, the infection in his lungs overwhelmed him, and with no other options, he chose to be taken off the life support on Monday afternoon. The official word: Guenther died from a lung infection as a complication of acute myeloid leukemia.

“This has been sudden and overwhelming as you can imagine. Today I am informing people that he cared about, and who cared about him. He always thought you were terrific, Penny. We’d be at an event and he’d say ‘Oh, look! There’s Penny. Love her! Let’s go say hi.’

“You’re welcome to share the news with anyone who knew Guenther, or through your BTC column.”

A service is planned Sunday, Jan. 5, but BJ is still confirming the venue.

Guenther, I hope you are planning a fabulous dinner party in heaven. You were truly one of the best!

BJ Dyer, left, and Guenther Vogt. (Blacktie-Colorado photo)

BJ Dyer, left, and Guenther Vogt. The two co-owned Bouquets flower shop and Vogt died Monday of a lung infection caused by acute myeloid leukemia, which was only diagnosed two weeks ago. (Blacktie-Colorado photo)