Walter Weckbaugh

Walter Stephen Weckbaugh, a devoted husband and father, passed away on May 2, 2021. He was born on April 9, 1943 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver, the third child of Anne and J. Kernan Weckbaugh. He attended St. Louis School in Englewood and Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He graduated from Regis Jesuit High School in 1962 and remained a life-long Rader. He earned a BSBA degree in Business Administration from Creighton University in 1966 and attended law school at the University of Denver. He also completed advanced coursework in finance and banking operations at Ohio State University and the American Banking Association National School of Real Estate Finance.

Wally proudly served in the U.S. Air Force and was on active duty for two years during the Vietnam War, where he worked as a weapons mechanic crew chief for military aircraft, rising to the rank of Staff Sargent. He continued his service to his country in the Colorado Air Guard for an additional six years before being honorably discharged in 1973. He went to work for First Colorado Bankshares at its University Hills bank in 1969 and started his professional career as a consumer lending officer. He later transitioned to the commercial lending department, where he managed the bank’s commercial, construction, and real estate lending portfolios. He advanced quickly, and was promoted to Assistant Vice President and, eventually, to Vice President, where he managed the bank’s real estate and construction loan departments and portfolios.

As a banker, he learned he enjoyed and excelled at real estate lending, and eventually,  he developed a specific interest in real estate. He left the bank in 1978, got his real estate license, and began a long and successful career in real estate. He started as a broker of residential and commercial properties and worked with several Denver-area firms in the 1980s, where he won firm awards for the top salesperson in 1985 and 1986. In the 1990s he joined Keller Williams and focused his practice in commercial real estate, and along with several partners, purchased the Northern Colorado Keller Williams franchise and established several offices in northern Colorado. He expanded his expertise in the 2000s to include a few real estate development projects. His clients and professional colleagues remember him as experienced, knowledgeable, savvy, and professional.

Wally‘s parents instilled in him a strong sense of service and the obligation to give back to the community. As a man for others, he served for many years as a trustee of the Weckbaugh and J.K. Mullen Foundations. He served on many boards, most notably Regis Jesuit High School, Centura Health Foundation, and the Hospice of St. John. He served on the Advisory Board of the Little Sisters of the Poor and was a past member of the Council for Public Television.

A fourth-generation son of this state, Wally had a deep and abiding passion for Colorado. He loved his home, particularly its history and the mountains. He frequently took his family on many backcountry tips in his beloved Land Cruiser. He loved exploring ghost towns above timberline, stopping on a trail to watch beavers busily build a dam, observing a moose from a distance, watching an eagle soar over a mountain valley, and hiking to the summits of Colorado’s Fourteeners to view spectacular panoramas. He taught his family to love the mountains and all they offer as much as he did, including hiking, skiing, rafting, and fishing. He and his daughters particularly loved racing each other to the bottom of a ski hill at A Basin or Winter Park; he even beat them to the bottom a few times. He particularly loved the Elk Mountains and the San Juans and tried to spend as much time in them as he could. He and his father often sat on the back deck at his parents’ house, and together, named every peak along the Front Range, from Pikes Peak to Long’s Peak.

Wally had many, many accomplishments, but his greatest accomplishment was his relationship with his family. He was devoted to Janice, his wife of almost 25 years. They did everything together and especially loved to travel, explore the mountains, visit family, and try new restaurants. Wally and Janice renewed their wedding vows at a lovely ceremony last February. She will greatly miss his love and companionship. He was devoted to his two daughters and unconditionally loved and cared for them. He always seemed to have the right advice on any subject ranging from hardware stores  and plumbers to childrearing and careers. They will miss his instinctive guidance and wisdom, and most of all, his enduring love, forever.

Always a gentleman, Wally lived his life to serve and help others. Wally had an enormous heart and an instinctive and remarkably accurate moral compass. He consistently made the right choices in his long and fruitful life and, most certainly, left the world a better place than when he entered it.

Wally leaves his loving and devoted wife, Janice, who nursed and cared for him until the very end. He is survived by his two daughters, their spouses, and their children: Heather and Paul Whitman, of Denver, and their son Peter; and Holly and Roberto Demartini, of London, England, and their sons Matteo and Francesco. He is also survived by his brother, John Weckbaugh and his wife, Suzanne, sister, Lori Weckbaugh, sister-in-law Toni Cadman, and brother-in-law Robert Biesk, as well as many, many nieces and nephews. A devoted Catholic, he will join his parents and sister, Nancy, in heaven.

A Rosary will take place on Thursday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m., and a Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Friday, May 14 at 10:00 am. Both services will be held at Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation at 1091 South Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80246.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Capuchin Franciscans in Denver, or to the charity of your choice.