Joe Shoemaker, the gentle man and powerful legislator who led such landmark efforts as the transformation of the South Platte River from a cesspool to an urban oasis and the establishment of the Auraria Higher Education Campus, died Monday. It was his 88th birthday.
“My dad finished his life in the way he lived it,” recalled his son, William Jeffrey “Jeff” Shoemaker of Denver. “He had been in declining health for the past several months, and when it became clear that the end was near he willed himself to hold on until every member of our family, including his newest great-granddaughter, could be there.”
Jeff Shoemaker is executive director of the Greenway Foundation and the Foundation for Colorado State Parks, both of which were started by his father.
A celebration of life will be at 10 a.m. Aug. 28 at Confluence Park. In addition, Shoemaker will be remembered at the Greenway Foundation‘s signature fundraiser, the Sept. 20 Gala on the Bridge.
“We’re not sure yet what form it will take,” said Lisa May, the foundation’s director of development, “but knowing Joe, he would want us to raise the roof.”
Joe Shoemaker was born Aug. 13, 1924, in Hawarden, Iowa. He attended Iowa State University for two years, completing his education at the U.S. Naval Academy. Penny Dykstra Shoemaker, his wife of 60 years, died in 2008. In 2009 he married Karen Ozias.
In addition to his wife and son, Jeff, Shoemaker is survived by daughter Jean Watson-Weidner of Lakewood; sons Joseph J. Shoemaker of Denver and James Dykstra Shoemaker of Highlands Ranch; nine grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
Joe and Penny Shoemaker moved to Denver in 1956 when he was the 18th attorney to be hired at the Holland & Hart law firm. He was chief of staff for then-Mayor Dick Batterton, who later appointed him manager of public works and deputy mayor.
Shoemaker, who had run unsuccessful campaigns for mayor and lieutenant governor, won a seat in the Colorado senate in 1962. The influential Republican remained in office until 1976, serving several terms as chair of the Joint Budget Committee.
In 1969 he drafted legislation that created the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District and in 1972 he led the controversial effort to create the Auraria Higher Education Campus. Then-Mayor Bill McNichols appointed him chairman of the Platte River Development Committee in 1974, which later became the Greenway Foundation.
“Joe was a visionary who stood on the banks of the South Platte River, when there was not a single park or trail, when the river was so polluted that it was toxic to touch, when no one else thought the river had a chance of survival and said, ‘We can do better,’ ” recalled Greenway’s associate director, Jolon Clark.
Longtime friend Derrell P. Thompson added: “As an Iowa farm boy, he learned the values of good land stewardship. As a graduate of Annapolis and a naval officer, he learned the principles of command. As a state senator, practicing attorney and longtime city dweller, he was well acquainted with the problems and the system. Above all, Joe was a man of vision and boundless energy.”
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/getitwrite
