Mourners say farewell to war hero, judge

WHEAT RIDGE - A crowd of several hundred people and a large Army and National Guard contingent gathered at Crown Hill Cemetery Tuesday for the military funeral and burial of Brigadier General Felix L. Sparks.

He was a former commander of the Colorado Army National Guard.

Sparks was a well-known civilian and military figure in Colorado. He was appointed to serve a short term on the Colorado Supreme Court in 1956.

In later years, he had a long-time role on the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Sparks is credited with being a major influence in re-writing water law to ensure that water resources kept flowing to the Front Range, instead of being diverted to other states.

As an officer in the U.S. Army in World War II, Sparks spent almost 500 days in combat in Northern Africa, Italy and Germany.

It was Colonel Sparks' battalion that first marched into the Dachau POW camp in Germany and freed more than 30,000 prisoners. Sparks is also credited with intervening in the execution of SS guards captured at the camp, a controversy that he addressed in a personal account written in 1997.

In that account, Sparks rejected claims that U.S. troops slaughtered hundreds of SS soldiers. He acknowledged that one 19-year-old gunner did open fire on captured Germans. However, Sparks said he physically stopped the gunner and replaced him.

Earlier in the war, Sparks was credited for heroism in rescuing three wounded soldiers while under enemy fire. He was awarded a Silver Star.