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Steamboat Springs — A memorial service is being held Sunday in Routt County for a successful Indiana businessman who owned the Vista Verde Guest Ranch in Clark.

Vista Verde employee Emily Hackbarth said members of the Vista Verde management team were traveling Thursday to Jerry W. Throgmartin’s service in Indiana. The Routt County service is from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the ranch.

Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg said Throgmartin, 57, was taken to Yampa Valley Medical Center from Vista Verde and then flown to a Denver hospital, where he died Sunday. Ryg said he spoke with Throgmartin’s doctor but was waiting for a final report. Ryg said the doctor told him Throgmartin died from meningitis.

Janice Poirot, public health nurse with the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association, said Thursday that she could not speak specifically about Throgmartin because of patient privacy laws, but she said there have been no cases of bacterial meningitis in the past month in Routt County. Bacterial meningitis is a disease that needs to be reported to public health officials because it is a communicable disease that has an impact on public health and safety, Poirot said.

According to The Associated Press, Throgmartin was the executive chairman and former CEO of appliance and electronics retailer Hhgregg, a company his grandfather founded in 1955.

Hhgregg runs 208 stores in 16 states, including Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Throgmartin joined the company in 1975 as a salesman and then served as store manager, district manager, advertising director and store operations vice president, the AP reported.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247 or email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com