Grand Junction Businessman’s First Day Back After Cancer Battle

UPDATE: We are sad to report that Dan Welsh passed away Tuesday evening, July 19, 2022. He spent his final hours surrounded by family and loved ones.

This Grand Junction businessman just completed his first day back on the job after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Dan Welsh, the owner/operator of a Grand Junction-based coffee roasting and wholesale business, Colorado Legacy, has endured years of treatment for leukemia. Yesterday, October 4, 2021, he clocked in at work for the first time in almost two years.

Get our free mobile app

Roasting Coffee In Grand Junction

Yesterday, Colorado Legacy's Facebook page read, "Dan is in the Coffee House today. Stop by and say Hi!!!" So, with that in mind, I did. Dan was back on the job, not only roasting coffee but working the front end and manning the register.

It's Been a Long Road From There to Here

Over the last few years, Dan has endured:

• 92 days inpatient at Huntsman Cancer Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah
• 419 days outpatient at the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Seattle, Washington
• 3 episodes of Septic Shock
• 9 days in the intensive care unit at Community Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado
• 2 Bone Marrow transplants
• 24 and counting bone marrow biopsies
• countless infusions of chemotherapy
• numerous transfusions of red blood cells and platelets

Why I'm Such a Fan of This Western Colorado Business

I can pretty much sum it up in three words: Local, local, and local. Colorado Legacy is a husband and wife business roasting, distributing, and retailing gourmet coffee to shops and customers all over the world. Most people I know, certainly the crew at the station, are absolute fans of Colorado Legacy. Whenever gift-giving season rolls around, we typically send friends and relatives coffee from this roaster.

Congratulations, Dan. I'm looking forward to celebrating your 20th-year cancer-free. Until then, keep cranking out the magnificent coffee.