Alternate Members | Members Emeritus
COLORADO FORUM MEMBERS
ALTERNATE MEMBERS
Members Emeritus
Samuel Gary (1926-2020)
Chairman - The Gary-Williams Company
Samuel Gary was Chairman of the Board of The Gary-Williams Company. Mr. Gary was born in New York City on November 1, 1926. He held a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University. After a stint in the U.S. Coast Guard, Mr. Gary moved to Denver and, in 1953, joined Ryan Oil Company. In 1956, he formed Samuel Gary Oil Producer. In June of 1967, Mr. Gary discovered the Bell Creek Field in Southeastern Montana, the 84th largest oil field in the United States. His staff merged into Webb Resources in 1969, and he became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. He resigned from Webb in 1977 and again pursued business interests as Samuel Gary Oil Producer, Inc. In late 1983, the company’s name was changed to Gary-Williams Oil Producer, Inc. and, in April 1989, was subsequently changed to The Gary-Williams Company.
In 1976, Mr. Gary established The Piton Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation located in Denver, Colorado. In 1992, Piton became an operating foundation. Mr. Gary was an active member of the Denver community and, in addition to serving as the Foundation’s Chairman of the Board, he served as a member of the Colorado Forum and as a Board member of The Stapleton Foundation, among others. He received numerous awards in recognition of his civic and philanthropic contributions including: The Colorado Harvard Business School Club Business Statesman of the Year in 1984; the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse, “C. Henry Kempe Award” in 1985; the Governor’s Distinguished Service Award in 1986; The Denver Partnership’s 1989 Person of the Year; and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Del Hock Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in February 1999 and he and his wife, Nancy, received the 2002 Community Service Award for Lifetime Achievement awarded by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. In 2005, Mr. Gary was presented with Urban Peak’s Maverick Thinker Award and he and his wife received El Pomar’s Russell Tutt Leadership Award. Mr. Gary was also elected to the All-American Wildcatters in 1968 and was honored as the Denver Petroleum Club Man of the Year in 1968 and the IPAMS Wildcatter of the Year in 1984.
John Moye (1944-2022)
Obituary found here
John Moye, pioneering attorney, philanthropist, and civil leader, died May 27th in Denver at age 77 due to complications of Parkinson's Disease.
Born in Deadwood, South Dakota to Margaret and Jeff Moye August 15, 1944, John was a precocious and mischievous only child. He inherited his sense of humor from his father, who penned his own obituary. It simply read, "Jeff Moye left Deadwood yesterday and is not expected to return."
John was a dedicated pianist and student who attended the University of Notre Dame, where he met his college sweetheart and later wife, Patti Theisen. He was also known as DJ Johnny Mopp on the ubiquitous Topsy Rock and Roll program at WNDU.
He attended Cornell Law School where he graduated with distinction followed by a four-year station at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. In 1976, he founded a law firm that has evolved over several decades, now known as Moye White. John was recognized as Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year by both the Denver and Colorado Bar Associations in 1981. While known for his impeccable dress in custom-tailored suits, John became even more recognized for his genuine approachability, deep compassion, and commitment to a creative, intellectual, and ethical culture within the firm.
John's professional expertise included contracts, corporate, commercial, banking and partnership law. He chose contracts to spite one of one of his Cornell professors who told him that he would "never understand contracts." He especially loved the intricacies of the language of contracts and wrote "The Contracts Rap," which articulates more than 60 contract law concepts through memorable rhyming couplets, serving as a mnemonic for tens of thousands of graduate students through his legendary Bar Exam lectures.
John authored several books including legal texts on corporations, partnerships, business organizations, federal jurisdiction and the Uniform Commercial Code. He was a professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Denver Law School where he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law for his commitment to legal education.
John's other commitments extended to dozens of nonprofit and for-profit organizations. He served as the President of the Colorado Bar Association, Chair of the Colorado Historical Foundation, the Board of Law Examiners, the Stapleton Development Corporation, the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, and Downtown Denver, Inc. He also served as Director of the Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado Public Radio, Inc.
In 2006, along with Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Kourlis and Chancellor Emeritus Dan Richie, he cofounded the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), an independent research center at the University of Denver combining innovation, empirical data, and interdisciplinary collaboration. He traveled internationally to study models in countries like New Zealand and was inspired by intelligent and compassionately streamlined legal systems that better served all parties. In 2016, John Moye Hall was dedicated to him at the University of Denver, where IAALS continues to operate.
Throughout his career, he won countless awards for outstanding leadership, law practice, and civic contributions, only some of which include The Award of Merit, the Colorado Bar Association's highest accolade (2005) and the Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation (2017). He was a member of The Order of the Coif, Phi Kappa Phi.
In his free time, John loved playing the piano, cycling, gambling in Las Vegas with his best friend Steven Levine, and spending quality time with family in Italy, his grandparents' birthplace.
He is survived by his daughters, Kelly (Mark) Moye, Mary (Tom) Moye Monroe, Megan (Chris) Zacher, his stepdaughter Rachael Portnoy, his grandchildren Madeleine Heroux, Tucker Heroux, Chelsea Monroe, Zoey Monroe, and Zander Zacher, and his trusty dog Joe Biden, who was named long before the presidency.
Thomas Clark Stokes (1935-2020) obituary found here
Tom Stokes, a long-standing Denver business and civic leader, died on Oct. 20. Stokes was born in Ames, Iowa, to Eva (Clark) and Earnest Stokes, and grew up in Omaha, NE. He graduated from University of Colorado with a degree in Business and Finance in 1956.
He spent 36 years working in commercial banking, first for United Bank, and then Central Banks of Colorado. He went on to serve as executive director of Gates Family Foundation, and then as president of Gates Capital Management, LLC, a private investment company.
Throughout his career, he invested time and expertise in his community. He served on a number of community boards and was an officer of several organizations, including the Metropolitan YMCA, University of Northern Colorado, Downtown Denver Partnership, Clayton Early Learning, Colorado Conservation Trust, the Gates Family Foundation, the Public Education & Business Coalition, and Denver Urban Renewal Authority. He was an active member of the Colorado Forum, and served as a Director of Colorado Public Radio. He also served on the board of directors of First National Bank of Colorado and then First National Bank of Omaha.
Stokes' contributions have had a lasting impact in Denver and in Colorado, from guiding investments in education and conservation to engaging with other business and civic leaders in long-range planning and economic development for Denver's and Colorado's future. Perhaps his most enduring impact was as a mentor and advisor to those who worked for and alongside him. He enjoyed these relationships immensely.
He is survived by his wife Kathy Stokes, his daughter Beckett Stokes and son-in-law Andrew Seelaus, and his daughter Sarah Stokes Alexander and son-in-law Nick Alexander. He had four adoring grandchildren, Eleanor and Henry Seelaus and Katie and Molly Alexander.
Albert C. Yates
President Emeritus, Colorado State University
In August 2003, Albert C. Yates retired from the presidency of Colorado State University after thirteen years at the helm of one of the nation’s top research universities, completing a 35-year career in higher education as a professor and administrator. Since then he continues to be involved in the formulation of public policy through his many associations with public boards, commissions and community leaders. He serves as advisor to, and spokesman for, the Bohemian Companies in Fort Collins, CO.
Dr. Yates graduated magna cum laude from Memphis State University in 1965, with degrees in chemistry and mathematics; earned a doctorate in theoretical chemical physics from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1968; returned to Indiana University as a chemistry professor in 1969; and, in 1976, was appointed professor of chemistry and vice president for graduate studies and research at the University of Cincinnati. Prior to his Colorado State appointment, Dr. Yates served for nine years as executive vice president and provost at Washington State University in Pullman.
In commemoration of his more than a decade of service to Colorado State University, Dr. Yates was honored in 2001 as an Honorary Alumnus of the institution; a CSU Alumni Association student award was named in his honor; a University student leadership institute was renamed as the Albert C. Yates Leadership Development Institute; the new chemistry/biosciences building was named Albert C. Yates Hall; the Albert C. Yates Chair in Mathematics was established; and the State of Colorado recognized Albert C. Yates Day with an official proclamation by the Colorado General Assembly. Dr. Yates was honored as the National Western Stock Show 2002 Citizen of the West. He has received several honorary degrees including the degree of Doctor of Science, Myongji University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Doctor of Engineering, Colorado School of Mines; and Doctor of Education, University of Denver.