Weld County commissioner Sean Conway, who had been serving in his third term in the office representing the county at-large, abruptly resigned his position effective Jan. 31.

In a letter to the Weld County Council dated Monday, Jan. 6, acquired by the Greeley Tribune via public records request, Conway informed the council of his resignation, citing health challenges which his wife, Rebecca, has experienced over the last year.

“The time has come to put her needs first,” Conway wrote in the letter.

Former commission chairwoman Barbara Kirkmeyer, whose position as chair of the commission was passed to current chairman Mike Freeman Monday morning, said the board of commissioners had yet to receive any notice from Conway himself, but was aware of the resignation letter that had been delivered to the council.

Freeman said the same.

“I have not talked to commissioner Conway,” Freeman said. “(The letter) was all, other than seeing him clean out his office Friday. I guess you’d say something was in the air, but I had no idea what he was doing, and I still don’t know. Don’t know his intent or his future plans.”

Both Freeman and Kirkmeyer supposed that the resignation might have to do with Conway’s wife’s health, and both wished her well.

A Facebook post by Rebecca Conway, a screenshot of which was shared with the Greeley Tribune, displayed several photos of boats and marinas and read as follows: “And we are off. We made the decision that Sean would retire effective Jan. 31 and as his reward we are off on a loooong cruise. Au Revoir!”

That post showed as being initially shared Saturday afternoon.

Colorado’s U.S. Congressman Ken Buck reached out to the Greeley Tribune Monday morning to comment on Conway’s resignation.

“I wanted to say I really appreciated (Conway’s) long service to his country and his community,” Buck said by phone. “He’s worked for Senator (William) Armstrong and Senator (Wayne) Allard, and then was a county commissioner. He’s protected the taxpayer and done a great job. I wanted to publicly say that I really appreciate his hard work. We owe a debt of gratitude to Sean.”

The county council is the entity which will appoint a replacement before an election could be held.

Conway Resignation Letter by Cuyler Meade on Scribd