Friends of “Buz” Say Goodbye
This past week was a busy one in The Villager newspaper world.
We attended the funeral service for another Village “titan,” Walter A. Buz Koelbel, Jr.
I always thought of Buz as a vibrant, youthful, visionary business entrepreneur, and we attended many city council meetings together over the past four decades. The most memorable were the prairie dog issues with the purchase of the land leading to the present day super successful The Preserve home site development.
It was never easy, and it demanded and took all of Koelbel’s skills to accomplish his successful real estate developments. I think he was best described as a high-quality individual with first-class honesty and integrity.
Great leadership he learned from his father Walter, who taught his son well. The leadership mantle has been handed to son Carl, now at the helm of Koelbel and Co., with assistance from his brothers Walt, Dean, and sister Bethany.
I’ve lived long enough to have admired and respected other departed “titans.” George Wallace, founding father of the Denver Technological Center and John Madden Jr., who developed so many beautiful structures on the west side of Wallace’s east side domain.
The Koelbel team of Walter and Buz made a huge footprint, just like Wallace and Madden. The Koelbel name joins their stature and reputation.
So it was on October 1, 2024, my family paid tribute to the Koelbel family with a special well-earned newspaper tribute to Buz and his family.
Gerri and I attended the funeral service at the beautiful Bethany Lutheran Church with a capacity audience who were still in shock over Buz’s untimely death from cancer. A scourge of a disease that doesn’t care about who you may be, it takes many loved ones from our midst. Cancer League of Colorado does a yeoman’s job of raising funds annually to wage war against this foe.
Bethany Lutheran Church, in history is linked to Martin Luther and the ensuing religious “Reformation” was an awesome venue for the largest funeral audience I’ve ever witnessed in my 43 years of attending local funerals.
I especially enjoyed two of Buz’s closest friends, Steve Stokesberry and Jeff Riggs, relating some lifelong tales about days in school at Thomas Jefferson high school, and Buz’s days as a Phi Delta Theta fraternity member at The University of Colorado, his beloved alma mater. Pastor Gary Sandberg was also poignant in addressing Buz’s faith in God. The church staff did an awesome job for their beloved member.
Following the service, a reception was held at the newly remodeled Cherry Hills Country Club, that handled the event successfully from parking to the use of an attractive new community room that easily accommodated the many friends of the Koelbel family. Sherri warmly greeted everyone at the entrance with her dignity and beauty.
There was no shortage of dark suits and respectfully dressed ladies at the reception. Three of the guests we encountered entering the club were titans in their own right, in other venues. Steve Schuck, Colorado Springs business leader and candidate for governor back in the 80’s and Pat Grant, member of a pioneer family, legislator of distinction, and CEO of the National Westerns Stock Show for 25 years. Lastly, the former president of the Boettcher Foundation, former Colorado Secretary of Agriculture, Tim Schultz. All three men, each who could have been governor, paid their last respects to Buz.
The torch has been passed successfully. Buz had a great life.