Federal Heating, a fixture on Denver’s South Federal Boulevard, has closed for good after more than 80 years in business as the third generation to own it contend with a changing industry and marketplace.

Bo and Sherry Ramsour, who ran the business started by their great-uncle Bert Ramsour, believe it was the oldest HVAC business in Colorado.

“I’ve always told Bo the two of us go out together, we have to go together. We kind of came in together,” said Sherry, who is 58.

Bo, whose full name is Robert, graduated from college in 1982 and returned to work with his father, Robert “Bob” Ramsour.

“I came back and never left,” said Bo, 63. “It’s been good. I have no regrets.”

Federal Heating’s last day of business was the last day of June. Employees Janet Cordes and Mark Monheiser were there until the end and Monheiser said people asked, “What am I going to do now?”

“I don’t even know what I’m going to do now. If I need parts, I guess I’m going to have to go online, otherwise you have to be a contractor,” Monheiser said.

Selling people parts they needed helped Federal Heating carve out a niche, Bo said. “We did pretty well because a lot of people could fix the stuff themselves but a lot of people couldn’t afford a new installation.”

The Ramsours got complaints from other HVAC businesses about their thriving parts trade.

“We got a lot of flack from our competitors, saying you shouldn’t be doing this, it’s a liability. And I’d say, ‘Well they’re not going to buy a new system from you anyway because they just can’t afford it,’” Bo recalled. “We were very successful in the ’80s and ’90s. People lined up at the door and it was a good feeling for us because they were able to save so much on an installation.”

The 7,000-square-foot showroom, store and warehouse on South Federal started out as the Ramsours’ grandmother’s house. Their father was born there. Bert Ramsour started the heating supply business in the basement of his mother’s nearby house, but moved it to the house on Federal because the street was busier. He added a warehouse in 1947.

“Bert was kind of the engineer type. He could fix things and do all this ductwork. It got to be so busy,” Bo said.

Bo’s father eventually bought the business. His father was a shopkeeper on a ship that supplied submarines during World War II and he was fastidious about keeping everything in its right place in the sheet-metal shop where Federal Heating employees worked on ductwork and other parts.

“He learned how to stack things right on the ship. Everything was organized to a T,” Bo said of his father.

Their parents met at work and Bo and Sherry worked at the HVAC business long before it became their career. Bo started working there in 1973, sweeping floors and carrying out other tasks. He didn’t plan to join the family business, but his father cajoled him into following in his footsteps when Bo couldn’t find a job after college.

Sherry ended up carrying on the family tradition, but in fits and starts at first. “I actually started working here when I was 12 years old on Saturdays. If I wanted to go roller skating, my dad made me come to work.”

She continued to work at Federal Heating, except for the times she quit or got fired.

“My dad would get mad and fire me or I’d get mad at him and then I’d quit,” Sherry said. “My dad’s big dream was for me to take an interest in the business and become one with it. I just fought it tooth and nail because I was a girly girl. Gas valves stink and motors are dirty. What if I break a nail?”

Sherry was in beauty school when her father got sick on a trip to Bangkok. She took a leave of absence to help with the business and then stayed with the company. She handled the accounting, payroll taxes, dispatched the service calls and worked in the parts department. There were about 15 employees at one point.

Sherry, who also helps manage family rental properties and handles her brother’s accounting, said she decided it was time to step away.

“It has physically and mentally wiped me out,” Sherry said.

Bo works “morning, noon and night,” she said. “It’s been fun working with him and we are a really good team.”

But Sherry thinks back to something her father told her.

“He always said, you know you two kids, I’ve done all the work for you and I’ve taught you well. Do not work until the day you die. There’s no reason for you two to do that.”

When their father finished work, he often spent time at home on his handcrafted metal statues: a skier, a knight in shining armor. His masterwork was a Statue of Liberty that has stood outside Federal Heating since 1982.

“He went to the library and got books on how the French actually did it. He made drawings and he said, ‘I’m going to build this thing,’” Bo said.

His father built the statue using only scrap metal from jobs he worked on. The project took a couple of years.

In 1986, Lady Liberty lost her head to thieves. The theft made the news and a week later, kids showed up with the head, saying they found it.

“There was blood all over it because the crown of the statue was made of raw metal so they cut themselves taking it down,” Bo said.

The statue is still outside the now-closed business. There are a couple of offers pending on the building and Sherry said Bo has the right to reclaim the statue if the new owners don’t want it.

While Sherry is ready to retire, Bo is considering what he might do next. He’s thinking about looking into being a boiler inspector for the state. He said the HVAC business is a dead end for small business owners because more and more customers just go online for their needs.

“It’s killed our business because we can’t compete,” Bo said.

The equipment is also more complicated and companies have proprietary computer programs that only certain technicians can work on, Bo said. He has concerns about the effects of moving from natural gas to all electricity for heating.

“They’ll have to build a whole new grid,” Bo said. “And they’re going to run the bills up.”

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