Lucille Ruibal Rivera’s “dynamic personality” and experience in health management were crucial as Jim Garcia worked to open what’s now known as the Tepeyac Community Health Center, which has served northern Denver neighborhoods for nearly 30 years.
She simplified a complicated industry for Garcia and, as the health center grew, she joined its board of directors, eventually serving as its chair.
“That was the type of person that she was,” said the Tepeyac clinic’s CEO and founder. “She was very adept at identifying a need within the community — and then not only committing herself to it, but rallying others.”
He was among community leaders who reflected on the impact of Rivera, 70, after she was killed on Nov. 18. Authorities have confirmed she was the victim of a murder-suicide in Northglenn.
Those who knew her remembered Rivera as an advocate for marginalized people, as well as an artist with a keen eye while aiming her camera.
Rudy Gonzales, president and CEO of the Denver-based nonprofit group Servicios de La Raza, sees her death as a “great loss,” and not just because they share family ties.
“We’re a small community when you think about Denver Chicanos,” Gonzales said. “She was someone who was fearless and decisive and one of our champions, making sure we were represented.”
Garcia said he put his trust in Rivera before opening the Tepeyac clinic’s doors in 1994. Several people had recommended Rivera, he said, given her robust experience in health care administration.
Starting in an entry-level position at Denver Health, “she worked her way up to managing one of their largest health centers,” Garcia said in an interview. “When she found a cause that she was passionate about, she just put her whole heart and soul into that work.”
Tepeyac, formerly Clinica Tepeyac, became one of those causes for her, catering to medically underserved communities. It’s now located at 2101 E. 48th Ave. in Elyria-Swansea.
But Garcia said he didn’t want Rivera remembered solely for her accomplishments in the health care field. He pointed to art as “her real passion.”
Her talent as a photographer first stemmed from a fascination with architecture. Rivera wondered what stories lay within a building’s walls.
“Over time, I have come to see that there is so much more in this world that fascinates and makes me wonder about what kind of stories life would tell if we would only listen,” she wrote on her artist’s page on the website of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, Colorado’s oldest Latino nonprofit arts organization. “… That’s what I do when I look through the lens of my camera, I see a story.”
Family mourns “senseless act of violence”
The Northglenn Police Department said that, on the night of Nov. 18, officers responded to a call at a house on the 11700 block of Delaware Court and found the bodies of an adult man and woman, who died in an apparent murder-suicide involving partners in a relationship.
The coroner’s office for Adams and Broomfield counties later confirmed their identities as Rivera and Gardell Neal, 67, and said in a news release that “their manner and cause of death are pending further investigation.”
Rivera’s son, True Apodaca-Cobell, wrote in a Facebook post Nov. 19 that his mother was killed in a “senseless act of violence.” An attempt to reach him was not successful, but he told CBS Colorado that Rivera and her boyfriend were going through a breakup, and her boyfriend killed her before taking his own life.
Gabriel Tresco remembers Rivera, who was his godmother, as a tough, but loving figure who helped him fight through addiction issues for two decades.
“She was very instrumental in my recovery,” Tresco said in an interview. “Lo and behold, I’m clean.”
He described his family as “devastated,” with her absence already poignantly felt by relatives, friends and community members.
“We thought she had a lot of time left here,” Tresco said. “I just want her to be remembered as someone who loved humanity.”
The circumstances of Rivera’s death have spurred the organizations she worked with to put the focus on domestic violence.
Renee Fajardo, the board chair of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, noted that almost 70% of the women serving on its board have been affected by domestic violence.
“It is a serious problem,” she said. “It’s something that we don’t talk about.”
She called Rivera’s death “the last straw for us.” The arts council’s team is collecting stories and photos of Rivera.
Servicios de La Raza serves close to 2,000 domestic violence victims annually, Gonzales said.
His group gave Rivera an award in 2019 for her work with the Chicano arts council, but he said she helped make Denver better across the board.
“She manifested self-determination,” Gonzales said. “Now, we need her to help us from the other side.”
“One woman who should never be forgotten”
During her career, Rivera worked her way up the ranks of several organizations she joined, often taking on leadership roles. Once a clinic administrator at Denver Health, she was appointed by then-Mayor John Hickenlooper — now a U.S. senator — to the board of directors of Denver Health’s Community Health Services in 2010.
She has served as the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council’s executive director and as a board member at the Northglenn Arts and Humanities Foundation.
She watched her projects thrive. The Tepeyac clinic, originally located at 3617 Kalamath St. near the Highlands, Sunnyside and Globeville neighborhoods, expanded when it moved to its current home in Elyria-Swansea in 2006.
Rivera worked to secure a permanent space for the Chicano arts council in the Art District on Santa Fe, Fajardo said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rivera built up the council’s community presence through partnerships with Metropolitan State University and others.
This year, she served as the show curator of a free gallery exhibition at Northglenn Arts called “‘Amor es Amor’: Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Chicanos/Latinos.”
Through their work with the arts council, Fajardo and Rivera learned that they were related as cousins. Fajardo described their lineage as Manito: multiracial people from southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, with ethnic backgrounds including Hispanic, Indigenous, Italian, Jewish and more.
“Lucille was able to see the possibilities that it means to be a people of woven ancestry and heritage — of what beautiful things can be created in the world,” Fajardo said. “This is one woman who should never be forgotten.”
Apodaca-Cobell has sought donations through a GoFundMe page to help pay for his mom’s memorial service. “Unfortunately, the cost of arranging a memorial service is beyond what our family can afford at this time,” he wrote.
As of Tuesday evening, donations had reached more than $8,000, approaching the fundraising goal of $10,000.
Rivera’s funeral service is set for 10 a.m. on Dec. 8 at Latina Funerals & Cremations, 3020 Federal Blvd. in Denver. Her burial will follow at 1 p.m. at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, 12801 W. 44th Ave. in Wheat Ridge. A celebration of life memorial is set for 5 p.m., but the venue had not yet been announced.
The investigation continues into Rivera’s death. Northglenn police encouraged anyone with information to contact Detective Terrie Hoodak at 303-450-8858.
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